The Queen Who Fell To Ashes
by Fell-and-Fallen
Summary: REBOOTED With Garmadon gone and the Devourer defeated, the ninja focus on the new task at hand: sculpting Lloyd into the Green Ninja. But as a disturbing prophecy starts to take shape, Ash begins to realize that evil may not be the only thing to fear. Follows the storyline of Season 2. Cole/OC, Jay/Nya.
1. Monotony Comes With Surprises

_Aaaand we're off! Thanks for joining me if you're coming from The Girl Who Played With Fire, and if you are new, welcome! I hope you are as excited as I am to start this, so without further ado, here's the REBOOT!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

_[Disclaimer, all I own is original story/characters. Both are rather obvious, so there shouldn't be problems :) ]_

* * *

"Feel your center. The warmth, the power."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, releasing it slowly as my stomach fills with a comfortable heat. My chest swells with warmth as my lungs expand, and doesn't diminish as I exhale.

"Now draw from it and let your familiar guide you."

I open my eyes and let my gaze fall from the translucent figure in front of me to the fiery dragon at my shoulder. He answers with a stream of smoke from his nostrils, spreading his wings and radiating warmth from my neck all the way into my fingertips. With a gentle push, the heat flows through my entire body, filling every pore and vein until my entire being hums with warmth.

"Good," Stella's transparent shape shines a bit brighter, gleaming in the still stone chamber that surrounds us. A smile touches her small face. "Now shape it."

I raise my arm and carefully let the heat out into the air, focusing it on the space in front of my outstretched hand. A faint circle of flames surrounds my hand like a target, slowly spreading and growing in power as I let out another breath. My heart skips a little faster with excitement, but I take another deep breath and concentrate even harder on the large circle before my palm. I let everything else fade into silence as my power hums and the circle continues to grow and-

"Hey Ash, you got a minute?"

The bubble of silence surrounding me bursts as a familiar voice spears through my consciousness. The room around me disappears as I blink out of my trance, the sharp smell of cold stone fading to the newer scent of varnish and paint. I clench my hand and the ring of flames disperse, much to Spitfire's annoyance as he slips back onto my arm with an irritated growl. I mutter a few comforting words to him as I look over my shoulder and squint against the light pooling in from the doorway.

"Oh, hello Kai," I greet the red ninja with a tired smile. Spitfire swirls in a lazy circle on my wrist, mirroring my own exhaustion as I rub my suddenly cold hands together. "What do you need?"

His auburn eyebrows come together in a scrutinizing look. "You've been meditating for three hours now," he says like I've just committed a crime. "And you haven't moved?"

"Well… no," I answer as I stretch my legs out in front of me. Even after changing into sweatpants, they're cramped from sitting cross-legged for so long and are filled with excruciating pins and needles. I try to ignore them with little success. "I was ah, meditating."

"Again? Didn't you meditate like, all day yesterday?"

"Well, yes," I purse my lips. "But that's not the point." I look up at him. "I know you've all been antsy since Garmadon ran off, and believe me, so have I. That's why I've been with my ancestors so much. I have a handle on my power, but my skills need to be honed, and as much as I know you guys want to help, this is something I have to do myself. It's-"

"Your duty as unofficial ancient Queen of Ninjago to be prepared to act as a guide at any moment, blah blah blah. Yeah, you've mentioned it a few times," he rolls his eyes but gives me a smile to show he's not serious. "You're starting to sound like Zane. Next thing you know you'll be spurting wisdom and making things freeze instead of burn."

I laugh. "If I start breathing ice, I'll make sure you know."

My head spins a little as I get to my feet, and every numbed muscle in my legs jitters with a thousand needles, but I manage to clear my head as I return Kai's look with my own. "So what did you need that was so important you interrupted me in the middle of a lesson?"

"Well, remember what you said this morning about affording the suite?"

"That it was completely impossible and you were idiots for accepting the offer?" I raise an eyebrow as my arms cross over my chest. "It rings a bell."

He gives me a pointed look. "Well, we decided if we worked, we might be able to scrape together the cash to pay it off," he says. "Given our skill set, I think we can get some pretty decent jobs."

I can't hold back an undignified snort. "Jobs? As what, male models?"

"Whatever we can find," he shrugs. "But modeling isn't such a bad idea. I heard they make pretty good money-"

"What makes you think we can earn enough money to play this suite off in just a few days?" I shake my head. "I still think we should find someplace else."

"There is nowhere else."

"You mean you guys just want a swanky place with good Wi-Fi."

He rolls his eyes. "Alright, so maybe we have certain tastes, but if we pull together, we can totally do this," he says. "We just need someone to stay with Lloyd while the rest of us work."

"Wait a second," I raise a finger. "You didn't come in here to ask me to help you guys get the money, you want someone to dump Lloyd on while you're out spending his training time looking for jobs to pay for a suite we could never afford in the first place-"

"It won't take us that long to make the money, I'm sure," Kai frowns. "We just need you to keep an eye on Lloyd until we do. It shouldn't take more than a few days. It'll even give you more time to meditate."

I massage my temples with a couple of fingers. "You realize how ridiculous this plan is?"

"Hey, if Sensei and Nya were here-"

"We'd be somewhere a lot more sensible," I give him a pointed look. "And you know it."

He rolls his eyes. "Look, this place has everything Lloyd needs. We have to at least try to buy it," he gives me his best pleading face. "Think of the kid."

I scowl. "Don't you dare pull that on me-"

"Ash, you care about Lloyd and his training probably as much as Sensei does, which is why you don't want us to leave," he says. "So why not give us a shot at giving him everything he needs to train without slumming it?"

"Because it's a stupid idea-" I let out a breath. "Alright. Fine. You want to try and buy this place, okay." I give him a look. "But I'm helping."

"What?"

"If you're going to find jobs, so am I," I step toward him. Kai is a good couple of inches taller than me, but still balks under my intense gaze. "I might've lived in the woods for four years, but I think I have a few more marketable skills than you. Employers will trust me more than some sketchy teenage guys showing up in pajamas."

He looks a little miffed at my pajama comment, but doesn't respond. "What about Lloyd?"

"He took care of himself for how long before we found him?" I raise an eyebrow. "I think he'll be fine by himself. Besides, he's been drained since his dad disappeared. A little personal time could be exactly what he needs."

Kai puffs out his cheeks a little in thought before answering. "Maybe you're right."

I grin. "Only always."

I start toward the door. "Now I'm going to bed, unless there's something else you have to tell me?"

"No?"

"Good, because meditation is exhausting," I yawn as Spitfire lets out a sleepy purr. "I'll see you in the morning."

"You realize there are only a couple of beds-"

"Yeah, and Cole called the couch earlier, didn't he?" I raise an eyebrow. "I'd hightail it before you get stuck with the tile."

Kai rolls his eyes but leaves anyway, allowing me a few seconds of silence before a shouted argument explodes from the living room.

I chuckle a little. "Boys."

* * *

"So where are you headed?" Cole asks as I tug a cardigan over the blouse Nya gave me a few days ago. She'd joked about getting it at a BOGO sale just down the street, but I suspected she was just sick of seeing me in ratty tees and sweaters. Not that I was complaining. My inner fashionista was very pleased with her selection.

"Wherever there's an opening, I guess," I answer as I divert my attention to the black ninja. The others are getting dressed nearby, tugging on casual clothes they'd bought since our ship was destroyed. Jay grumbles something about a favorite shirt being eaten, but the rest is lost as he pulls on a sweater.

"No offense, but I don't think there are a ton of employers who'll be cool with your um… you know," Cole glances to the dragon on my arm, who huffs an irritated poof of smoke.

"What, him?" I follow his gaze and he nods. "He can be a very convincing tattoo when he wants to be. Right, Spitfire?"

My dragon twirls happily in response, rising from my skin in a scatter of fire as he crawls to my shoulder in a light blaze of flames. He purrs and nuzzles his head into my hair as I coo another few loving words at him.

"Well I guess you could always say he's some weird breed of cat," Kai chuckles nearby as I scratch the little dragon under his chin.

"I'll be fine, Cole," I give the black ninja a reassuring smile as Spitfire returns to my arm, flattening his body against my skin until he swirls like an animated tattoo. His claws are like warm, painless pinpricks on my arms, and I give him another smile. "No one will think twice about Spitfire."

I catch Lloyd as he brings Zane a screwdriver to tighten a few screws in his elbow. My gaze softens on the blotched circles under his eyes and I reach out to smooth down a few wild strands of his white-blond hair. "You take care of yourself, alright kiddo? If you need anything, and I mean anything-"

"I call one of you," Lloyd rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I heard you the first eleven times. I'll be fine."

"Alright, smartass, just remember who you're dealing with," I ruffle his hair again, smirking as he shoves it back out of his face. "No wild parties and no eating anything you shouldn't. Remember when you tried to eat Cole's fruitcake because you thought it was a chocolate bar-?"

"I think he gets it," Kai laughs as Cole rolls his eyes. "He'll be fine, Ash."

"Right," something tugs at my core, a weird sense of dread that upsets my stomach. I chalk it up to maternal worry and shove it aside. I start toward the door, bumping Cole lightly with my shoulder as I pass.

"I apologize ahead of time if I find a better job than you," I grin at him over my shoulder. "I can't help being so charismatic."

"Sure," Cole lets out a snort of barely contained laughter as I slip out the door and head for the elevator.

As I begin my descent, the anxiety that had started as a speck in my abdomen has grown into a solid pebble. I don't understand why I feel so nervous, especially with what we've had to deal with over the past few months.

I blink and the memories wash over me: of learning my past; facing Desmond, the man who had ruined my life; fighting the Great Devourer. I shake my head. Worrying over something as trivial as finding a job feels silly now. Chances are my nerves just haven't settled into the sudden monotony of life.

The elevator dings overhead and opens with a pleasant chime onto the small lobby. I head out the doors and into the chilly morning air, bundling my cardigan tighter around me as I start down the street toward whatever today holds. The dark feeling shadows my every step, and I try to push it out of my mind.

* * *

The bell above the door twinkles cheerfully as I step into the pleasantly cool weapons store. The day had turned out to be warm after all, and being high noon the sun was blistering, even for me. I'd walked for a long while, stepping in and out of stores and restaurants that were either not hiring or weren't interested in an anonymous girl from the street. I'd entertained the idea of calling it a day and heading back to the suite when I caught sight of the tiny and slightly worn down weapons shop with a Help-Wanted sign plastered to the window. I'd decided to make it my last stop and stepped inside.

The door closes softly behind me, blowing a puff of wind against my neck that sends strands of dark hair flying into my face. I swat at it when my elbow knocks violently against something and throws a fragile case of merchandise onto the ground with a loud clatter. I cringe as the case bursts open, spilling its contents onto the tile. I fall to my knees and scramble to pick up the various handheld weapons that are rolling across the floor, hearing someone let out a gasp as they scramble over to me.

"I'm so sorry!" I cringe as a pair of rough, calloused hands joins mine. Screaming heat floods my face, and I do everything I can to not make eye contact with the likely furious store keeper. "I really didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, it was only an accident," a young voice chuckles next to my face. It sounds excruciatingly familiar, and my hands go still as I slowly raise my eyes. I scramble to my feet as I meet an all-too-familiar stormy grey gaze.

"Hale?" I stagger back in the direction of the door as he calmly stands up in front of me. Spitfire hisses a blister of fire that flares to life in my hand as I stare down the man that awakens a storm of dark memories.

"Hello, Ash," he says, offering me an apologetic smile that stands in stark contrast to the sneer that still haunts my nightmares. He looks the same as I remember, tall, lean, and well-muscled, but his outline is softer and he doesn't look to be armed. I don't balk as the memories flicker behind my irises. This is a weapon's shop, after all, and this is the man who helped my "father" in an attempt to use me to destroy Ninjago.

"-idn't expect to see you here," he crosses his arms over his well-muscled chest. I blink and realize I've missed most of what he's said, lost in the memories tainted with our past. He meets my eyes easily, but the way his shoulders are set mirrors my own tension. His gaze flicks down my body, then back up. I hold back a shiver as his eyes focus on the fire in my hand. "I thought you didn't need weapons anymore?"

"I don't," my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as it suddenly goes dry. I lick my lips and clench my hand, stifling the flames as I struggle to keep my cool. "That's not why I'm here. I, uh, came for the job."

He laughs in a friendly way, though I can't hold back a flinch as I remember his sneering cackle. "You? Queen of Fire and one of the saviors of Ninjago City?" he smiles without a hint of contempt. "Why would someone like that need a job? Especially here of all places?"

"Just looking for extra money," I lie. He doesn't need to know just how much I need this job. "I've been looking around for a while now and this is the most promising one I've seen, but-"

"I'm here," his eyes darken and his own memories flicker in his irises. "What, are you going to kill me now? I heard what you did to Desmond."

I clench my teeth. "I didn't kill him. I sent him on an extended vacation to the Underworld."

He raises an eyebrow. "Really?" he snorts derisively. "Pity. If anyone deserved to die, it was that bastard."

"Do you forget who helped him?"

He pauses, then speaks slowly. "I understand why you don't trust me," he shakes his head. "And honestly, I don't blame you. If I were you, I'd never have let me live in the first place. I would've wiped myself off the face of the planet."

"I decided revenge wasn't the answer," I grimace, blinking away the memories that threaten to overtake me. "You were used, just like I was. Granted you nearly killed me and my friends at least a dozen times, but you weren't all to blame. You were Desmond's son."

I haven't said that name in a long time now, and just the thought of it slams me with dark memories.

He killed my parents, the former monarchs and guides of Ninjago, for his wife's death. Then kidnapped and raised me to use as a weapon against the land they'd sworn to protect. In that respect, I'm just the same as Hale. Both of us were used, tugged under his spell until we became monsters. I strangle the fire that threatens to flare in my hand.

"I'm nothing like you," Hale growls. He doesn't look me in the eye. "I knew better, I could've stopped, but I didn't because I was selfish and thought I could save you myself." He shakes his head. "You can't imagine how much I hate myself for what I've done. I almost killed you because he asked, and I let him poison me with his magic."

He lets out a heavy breath and turns back to me, his grey eyes clouded with pain. "I've been trying to figure out for months how I could ever redeem myself for what I've done, how I could ever earn your forgiveness for…" He lets out another growl and his hands clench into furious fists, a movement all too similar to my own.

"I can't forgive you," I watch his tight fingers carefully, very aware of the power they hold, and struggle to relax my own with little success. "What you did- forcing me to almost murder my friends, trying to convince me to become a monster, then telling me that you did it because you-" I cut myself off, taking a deep breath before I continue. "Hale, I can never forgive that."

His shoulders slump in defeat, and suddenly he looks much younger- like the wide-eyed kid I remember growing up in the village with me, the kid who came to my father, begging for lessons, the kid who always offered me a bright, warm smile… Suddenly I remember the village, of the people who'd let me go when they could have- should have condemned me for destroying their lives. I clench my eyes shut, then force myself to relax as I open them again.

"But," I start and Hale lifts his head. "I've done things I regret too. Things I know will never be forgiven, like burning down our village and almost going through with that contract. I've been given a second chance, and I…" My teeth clench as I struggle to form the words that tug on my lips. "I'm willing to offer you one too, Hale."

His eyes light up with surprise and he opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. He shakes his head and finally splutters out, "You're serious?"

"Yes," I nod slowly. I give him a steely look. "But this is the only chance I'm giving you. If you so much as step a toe out of line, well. You know the consequences."

"Ash, I- This is amazing-" he grasps my arms and I pull away without thinking. His hand brushes against the gold bracelet at my wrist, and he looks down at it with eyes filled with sudden hesitation.

"Is that from… him?" he asks, gaze fixed on gleaming, coiled dragon. I trace my fingers over it subconsciously, feeling the cool metal under my fingertips as I answer.

"Yeah," I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. A faint memory echoes in my mind, of some of Hale's last words before he disappeared over the side of the Bounty, words that have haunted me for months. _You were always out of my league, even before you became a Queen of Ninjago, but that never really stopped me from being completely in love with you. _

I look up into Hale's grey eyes filled with the shadow of pain, swallowing the sand paper that suddenly fills it. "I-uh- I told them you were dead."

He blinks, then shakes his head. "I wouldn't expect anything less," he sighs. "It's probably for the best that they don't know I'm alive. Or around, for that matter. I'd hate to die before I redeemed myself to you."

He offers me a careful smile. "So do you still want this job?"

"I don't-"

"The others don't have to know," he says softly. His hand twitches, and I can tell he wants to offer a reassuring touch. "If you really need this job, I'd love to have you around. You don't have to tell them until you're ready."

I bite my lip and mull over my other options, my eyes glancing over the mess of various pocket knives and brass knuckles at our feet that still glints in the dim window-light. I don't trust Hale any farther than I can throw him, and for good reason, but if he's really changed... We need this money, and this is the only job I've managed to scrounge up. I can't let it slip through my fingers, even if it means lying to the others. For now. I let out a breath.

"Alright, deal," I agree before I can change my mind.

Hale smiles and I try to return it. "Great. You can start now," he gestures to the floor.

I roll my eyes, making him laugh. "I'm already regretting this."

"It's all part of the job, your highness," he grins. "The guy who owned this before me would've fired you already. Not that I'm much better, but you'll do fine."

I mutter a rather rude response as I stoop down and start to pick up the spilled merchandise. Hale's gaze lingers on me a few seconds longer than necessary before he finally relaxes and moves back behind the counter. I glance up as he adjusts the bow he has hanging over the counter, and a small chill creeps down my spine as I recognize it.

"What did we get ourselves into, Spitfire?"


	2. Darkness Shall Rise

_Thank you all for your lovely reviews of my first chapter! I'm glad you're all excited for this new story, especially with all the changes being factored in, and honestly I'm having problems sticking to my schedule because I want you to see the chapters as soon as I finish them XD Anyway, I hope you continue to bear with me and enjoy!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

"Hey guys, I'm home- Oh." I pause in the doorway, eyes wide as I'm met with a room of exhausted ninja.

"Evening, Ash," Cole winces as he sloshes his feet in a tub of ice water. He groans. "My feet- I can't feel my feet."

Kai is slumped on the coach nearby, moaning distantly and covered in… footprints?

"There were so many of them," he whispers in a far-off voice, "and they wouldn't stop…"

"What happened to all of you?" I ask as I tug off my cardigan. Spitfire whirls tiredly after spending all day at the weapon's shop, and I knew the guys would be equally exhausted. But I didn't expect this level of devastation. "You look… awful."

"My gears locked up several times," Zane answers as paces near the windows and oils his elbows with a small can. He pauses. "I didn't even know my gears could lock up!"

I cringe as Jay crawls to life in front of me, slowly slinking toward the TV with his hand outstretched. "I don't even have enough energy to play video games," he whimpers before falling flat on the ground.

I carefully step over him and place my day's wages in the jar Kai had set up, frowning as I realize how empty it is.

"Aw, but I thought you were going to train me when you got home," Lloyd cries as he enters from dojo. I grimace.

"Sorry, champ," Cole sighs. "But we can't until we make rent." He turns to the blue ninja. "How close are we, Jay?"

"Is this jar getting bigger?" Jay shakes the jar as if the coins will suddenly multiply. "We're not even close!"

"And our rent is due tomorrow," Zane grimaces.

"We're not going to make it," I shake my head. "We'll run ourselves into the ground trying-"

"It's no problem, Ash," Cole cringes as he shifts his feet. "I can pull a double shift."

"And I can do overtime," Zane nods.

I shake my head again. "Guys-"

"Maybe I can sling a few extra pizza pies," Jay smiles lightly as he pulls himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the TV stand. "We can do it."

"And I can make a little extra if I do the human piñata."

We all stare at Kai for a second before he puts his face in his hands. "Ugh. Don't ask."

"What about you, Ash?" Cole asks. I grimace again.

"I'm still not sure about this-"

"You got a job at some weapon's shop, right?" Kai asks, and I nearly cringe at the memory of that awkward conversation. They hadn't been entirely satisfied with my evasive answers to even the simplest questions about my job, but thankfully I'd been able to divert the conversation to Zane's modified baked salmon recipe. "Would your boss be cool if you worked a few more hours?"

"Well, yes- uh, maybe," I shake my head. "But-"

"Great, then our priorities are set," Cole says with a determined smile. "Tomorrow we make rent."

"And uh, what about me?" Lloyd asks with a downcast face. Cole grimaces.

"How about you help out and um… fetch me some more ice, huh?"

Lloyd lets out a deep sigh and my heart shudders.

"Maybe I should stay home instead. Lloyd needs training-"

"Ash, if you can pull in some extra money we can pay the rent faster," Cole says, "and the faster we do that, the faster we can get back to training Lloyd."

"Cole-"

"It's okay, Ash," Lloyd shakes his head as he goes in search of ice. I clench my hands as the pocket of dread in my stomach grows, but try to shove it aside. The boys are right. The faster we make rent, the faster we can put this behind us and focus on our real mission.

The feeling doesn't pass.

* * *

"Hey Ash, why don't you take a break and organize the display cases out front? You haven't seen the sun in a while."

"Sure," I nod as I take the display box key from Hale and squeeze out from behind the counter. My head knocks against his bow, sending it swinging as I blink away the stars in my eyes.

"Careful, Ash," Hale chuckles softly as he gently moves me aside. His touch is cold on my exposed arms, but only lasts a second. "This job doesn't cover accidental injuries."

I can't help a smile as I finally emerge from the counter and head toward the tall front windows that let in the warm afternoon light. I open the display box propped against the window and start to organize the various small items inside. Most of them are sample blades and metals, but my hand brushes against something different. Curious, I pull it from the box and realize with a chill it's one of Hale's own arrows: a thin black shaft lined with raven feathers and speared with a sharp obsidian head. I turn it over in my hands, remembering the agony of when one of these arrows ripped me open-

I shake my head and force the memories away. I'm past that. I have changed, and so has Hale. I have to accept that.

I glance up at Hale as he leans over the counter, explaining the different types of metals to an interested customer. His eyes are much softer than my dark memories, and he laughs easily, a polar contrast from the sneering, biting Fang I remember. It's hard to believe that they were ever the same person.

A wailing siren outside tugs me violently from my reverie, snapping my attention away from Hale and to the police cars screaming by. I watch as they pass the store and squeal around the corner, headed in a familiar direction.

"Hale?" I call over my shoulder as I quickly shut the box and get to my feet. "Which way is the bank?"

"Just around the corner," he answers. His eyebrows come together in confusion. "Why?"

My pulse leaps. "I'm going to have to take a break," I start toward the door.

"Were those police cars for-?"

"Probably," I answer as I rush out the door with an aggressive twinkle of bells. I weave in and out of foot traffic, earning a number of dark looks and curses as I chase after the squad of police cars and hope against hope this has nothing to do with Cole.

But of course it does.

I come to a screeching halt at the foot of the bank's steps, gasping for air as I shove my hair out of my face and approach Cole, who's being chewed out by the bank manager.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear!" Cole pleads, his hands clenching as the bank manager clicks his tongue. He raises a hand at me before I can get too close.

"Mm, no," the bank manager's jaw sets as he chests up to the much larger ninja. I cringe. "Why don't you go home and get a good night's rest? And go ahead and sleep in."

Shapes move into my peripheral vision, and with a surprised glance I realize it's Kai and Zane.

"In fact, sleep in all day for all I care 'cause you're fired!" the bank manager spits in Cole's face before he turns sharply on his heel and disappears inside the bank.

Kai offers Cole a sympathetic smile. "Looks like we're all in the same boat."

"All of you got fired?" I ask, glancing between the three ninja as they all nod. "Even Zane?"

"I'll admit, it wasn't how I planned to end my employment," the white ninja shrugs. "But as soon as I heard the sirens I knew I had to come."

"Same here," Kai nods. "Now we're here for our real job: stopping the Serpentine."

"So that's what happened here," I glance at the swarm of cop cars. "But why so many cops?"

"They stole a lot of money from the vault," Cole explains. "They escaped before I could get to them."

"How'd they get past you?"

His gaze shifts away. "Look, I've been really tired lately, so I might have closed my eyes for a few seconds-"

"Cole!"

"It was just a few seconds!" he shakes his head. "I hated that job anyway."

My look doesn't change, and he rolls his eyes.

"Let's just go, they're getting away!"

"Which way did they go?" Kai asks, and I shove the issue aside to deal with later.

"I overheard them saying something about taking the subway."

"Good call," Zane nods, leading the way down the steps as we break into a run. "Let's go!"

"Wait!" my heels dig into the ground suddenly as my stomach fills with intense terror. The taste of iron pools into my mouth, and I struggle to swallow it. "What about Lloyd?"

"He'll be fine, Ash," Cole gives me an exasperated look. "We won't be long."

I grimace. "I don't know, something doesn't feel right-"

"We don't have time for this," Kai shakes his head. "I know you're worried, Ash, but right now the city's in danger. We need to go. Now."

I clench my eyes shut and struggle to fight the feeling that makes every muscle in my body hum with anxiety. I blink and swallow it, compartmentalizing it the same way I used to hide my heat. I manage to package it, shoving to a small corner of my mind where I can control it. For now.

"Alright," I swallow the lump in my throat. Spitfire whirrs a nervous hum and I try to ignore him. "Let's go."

* * *

The train speeds by our hiding spot in the wall of the subway, whipping strands of my hair that sting my eyes. My stomach lurches at the thought of the jump, and I try to shove it aside as Cole gives me a concerned look through his hood. With a last quick glance at each other we leap onto the roof. My legs jar as I slam onto the lurching metal, but I manage to check my balance before I'm ripped onto the screaming tracks.

Cole crawls to the edge in search of a door, but comes up empty.

"Isn't there an easier way to get inside?" he shouts over the screech of the train.

"Not without a ticket-" Kai cuts off with a wild yelp as a hole rips through the ceiling of the train and drags him inside.

I scramble to the hole. "Kai?"

"I think that was our easier way in," Zane answers instead.

Cole huddles closer to the hole and gives Zane a nervous glance. "Heh, nindroids first."

Zane grins back through his hood. "Oh, such a gentleman," he winks as he leaps into the hole. Cole rolls his eyes, but jumps in next, landing with a gentle thud. My stomach churns as he gestures for me to follow, not from the height but from the sudden wave of dread that shudders through my body.

"Ash, you alright?" Cole shouts, but before I can answer the sound of fighting erupts below my feet. Flashes of color whip by in the hole in front of me, but every other sense is overloaded with a grim, trembling terror. I push against it, forcing myself to calm my racing heart and focus on the task at hand. Cole's voice brings me back to reality.

"Keep fighting!" he shouts. "We won't let these fools get away with this!"

"Get avay?" one of the snakes hisses in a strange, vampiric accent. "Ve aren't trying to get avay! Ve are just trying to distract you long enough so Skales can kidnap Lloyd!"

My heart plummets. Lloyd's in danger. The snake general is after him and we left him completely alone. Defenseless. The dread in my stomach comes to a peak, and I scramble back from the hole. I have to get back to him. Now.

"Ash, you have to save Lloyd!" Kai shouts from below my feet.

"I'm on it!" I yell back as I spot another hole in the tunnel up ahead. It's still a ways away, but if I get the timing right I could sail right through it. I just have to focus and-

"Not so fast, princess!" a snake hisses as a hole suddenly rips open under my feet. Fire blazes to life in my legs as I try to escape, but a scaled hand grasps at my ankle, armored against the flames. I let out a scream as the snake tugs me roughly into the train, piercing my jeans with jagged claws. Cole shouts and tackles the snake to the ground, freeing my leg with a jolt.

"Ash, go!" Zane waves me forward as he and Cole grapple with the snake.

"I'm going!" I rocket forward from the train, just barely making it through the hole in the wall before the train screams by and continues down the subway. I rush through the dark underground station, pushing myself forward with bursts of flames from my hands.

"Don't worry, Lloyd," I mutter to myself as the unbearable terror hums through every vein, every pore in my body. My teeth grit tight in my jaw as I push myself even faster. "I'm coming."

* * *

My fire stops three blocks from the suite.

I stream of curses sputters from my mouth as I scramble to my feet, angrily shoving my hair out of my face as I get my legs under me. I break into a run, my eyes focused on the tower that looms far ahead of me. I'm pushing myself as fast as I can, but it still feels likes I'm crawling along. I force myself to run a little faster, gasping for air as my lungs scream in protest, but I ignore the pain and keep pushing.

I blast the doors open, nearly knocking one off its hinges as I scramble to the elevator. I smash the button under my thumb at least a dozen times and scream another torrent of curses as it stalls. Something crashes through the doors behind me, and I turn with a dangerous burst of fire, my hands flying up at the ready.

"Whoa, it's just us," Cole holds up careful hands as I gasp out a breath of relief. I stifle the flames in my hands and rub at my streaming eyes.

"I tried, I'm sorry, I couldn't-"

"You're fine, Ash, we're here now," Kai says. I cough to cover up the well of terror that tries to force its way up my throat and nearly scream as the elevator miraculously opens. We scramble inside, barely noting the cheerful music that plays overhead as we move painfully slowly to the top.

"I'm gone for five minutes that this is what I miss," Jay grumbles under his breath. His clothes are scuffed with dirt and other mystery stains and he has a faint scratch following his jawline.

Kai elbows him roughly. "Maybe we should've left you in front of the train."

The blue ninja balks as the doors open with an all-too-cheerful bell and we take off to the door of the apartment. It lies nearly off its hinges, mangled and broken in a way that makes me want to vomit. Cole bursts through the ruined door and we rush into the suite.

"Lloyd?" Cole's panicked voice is answered by an eerie silence.

"Lloyd, answer!" I scream, feeling my stomach roll with overwhelming nausea. My hands clench into my hair as my entire body starts to tremble. "No, Lloyd-"

"We shouldn't have left him," Kai shakes his head after peering into the empty dojo.

"We shouldn't have taken those jobs in the first place," Cole's hands clench at his sides. "What were we thinking? Losing Lloyd is by far our greatest loss."

"But it could be your greatest lesson."

The five of us turn around in shock as Sensei enters the room, shadowed by Nya and… Lloyd.

"LLOYD!"

"You're alright!" I cry as I throw my arms around the kid, fighting back a wild sob as the terror that's held me like a vice suddenly lifts into overwhelming relief. "Thank god, I was so terrified."

"You're okay!" Kai echoes with a smile from behind me as Lloyd struggles to pry himself away from my grip.

"I wasn't going to be," the kid shakes his head as I finally let him go. At a second glance, he looks roughed up- his clothes rumpled and torn from the fight of his life. I grimace as he turns and gestures toward Sensei and Nya. "Until he showed up at the last moment-" He pauses. "Where'd he go?"

"Where'd who go?" Jay asks.

"Me," a dark shape steps from behind the doorjamb, and my heart sinks again. Hale gives an awkward smile as he shifts his bow to his shoulder. His eyes turn to me. "He, uh, tried to call you, but got me instead. Sorry if I scared you."

"You!" Cole growls as the mood in the room suddenly shifts. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought Ash got rid of you," Kai leans forward threateningly and the four of them drop into a familiar fighting stance.

"Looks like we'll have to do it again," Jay growls as they start forward.

"No!" I jump in front of Hale, holding out a careful hand sparking with coiled flames. "Don't touch him."

The four ninja stop, surprised.

"Um, I don't know who you're seeing, Ash, but that's Hale. You know, the guy who tried to kill us a bunch of times?!" Jay waves his hands in front of my face.

"I know," I shove his arms away. I take a deep, calming breath and stifle the fire in my hand. "And there's something I've been meaning to tell you. Remember the weapons shop I work at? Well, he owns it."

"You knew he was here?" Kai's hands drop in surprise.

"You were _alone_ with him?" Cole's eyes widen.

"You don't understand," I shake my head. "Desmond manipulated him as much as he did me. He just… exploited him in a different way. He's done nothing but help the past couple of days and he protected Lloyd when we couldn't. I say he's more than proven himself an ally."

"It's logical to believe that he's only helping so you will sympathize with him, Ash," Zane's eyes grow cold as he stares down the tall archer. "This could easily be another ploy to pull you onto Desmond's side."

"I know the four of you have very strong feelings about Hale," Sensei starts, pushing lightly past my shoulder. "But I have spoken to him at great length since our return and have found nothing to convince me he still works for Desmond. Besides, Ash banished Desmond to the Underworld months ago and there has been nothing to indicate he is doing anything more than twiddling his thumbs."

He stops before the ninja. "Of course I can't completely rule out the fact Hale might still hold other loyalties, but I'm sure other feelings," he glances briefly at me and I feel my face redden, "outweigh whatever he might be planning."

"You can't expect us to trust this guy," Kai grimaces.

"Maybe not," I cross my arms. "But I do expect you to trust me. I've given Hale a second chance that he knows is priceless, and so far he's proven himself to be worthy of it." I glance at Lloyd. "And I think Lloyd agrees."

The kid nods. "I don't know what would have happened if Hale hadn't shown up when he did."

"Ash is right, guys," Nya says. "She took a big risk letting him go that day, and I think he's more than helped us the past couple of days. That has to be worth a little slack."

Cole clenches his teeth tightly. "Fine," he growls, his dark gaze boring holes into Hale. "But I swear, Hale, if you give me even the smallest reason to think you're going back to your old tricks I'll pummel you so far into the ground you won't know which way is up."

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you, Cole," Hale mouth twitches up in a smile. "And I would do the exact same thing in your place. I promise I will make myself worthy of your trust."

His soft eyes turn to me. "I should get back to the shop. I left it unlocked when we came after you and if I don't get back soon I don't think there'll be much left to sell."

He frowns slightly as he glances around the decimated suite. "I don't suppose you'll need your job anymore?"

"No," I shake my head. "I think we're going to be spending a lot of quality time training Lloyd in a more… affordable place."

"Well, let me know if you need anything. My door is always open," he gives me a last smile as turns to leave, his hand brushing against my forearm lightly as he disappears through the door. I look back up at the ninja, catching Cole's dark expression before he looks away. The two have a past, I knew that much, and I knew the black ninja might still hold some hostility toward Hale, but I didn't expect it to still be so… raw.

Lloyd scuffs a foot against the floor, tugging me out of my thoughts. "So I guess we're slumming it?"


	3. Lover's Quarrel

_A short chapter, but a much-needed one not included in the original. I'm hoping to include more chapters like this and some added ones to The Girl Who Played With Fire, so if you're ever confused about anything, just hit me up :)_

_Next chapter's going to be long, so brace yourselves XD_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

"Ash, we need to talk."

I look up at the sound of Cole's voice, grimacing to myself as I realize he's finally cornered me. We're cleaning out what little we had in the suite to take to our new, much more modest (if dumpy) apartment, and I'd hoped to avoid the black ninja's prodding questions a little longer. At least until I'd found a way to answer.

I turn slowly and offer him what I hope is a smile. "Uh, sure. What about?"

He narrows his eyes. Alright, maybe playing innocence wasn't the best way to go. "Why didn't you tell me Hale was alive? Or, more importantly, that you were spending so much time alone with him?"

I let out a breath. "Cole, I don't see how this is important-"

"You _lied_ to us, Ash, lied to me," he shakes his head, tossing dark curls into his face that I itch to smooth back out. His coffee-colored eyes settle back on mine, desperate and just a little angry.

"Not to all of you," I grimace. "I told Nya."

"What!"

"We made a deal with each other, alright?" his expression doesn't change, and I can't help the surge of irritation that wells up in my throat. "She didn't want you guys to find out I knew she was the Samurai, so in return she kept my secret about Hale." Brutal sarcasm drips into my voice. "She seemed to respect my decision."

He shakes his head again, dispersing more curls. Why couldn't he just keep his head still? "Why did you keep it from us for so long?"

"Because I knew you'd freak out," I push past him to grab one of Kai's shirts thrown over a chair. "Like you are now."

"_I'm_ freaking out?" he snorts as I turn back to face him. My jaw sets. "You've been hiding this for how long? I'm pissed because you thought it was alright to lie to us. We're your friends, Ash, not that back-stabbing bastard."

He steps closer until he's towering over me. I don't back down. "Why didn't you tell us, Ash? Do you not trust us? Trust me?"

"Yes- well, no-" I shake my head. "Cole, if I'd have told you from the start I let Hale live, you would've hunted him down and killed him yourself."

"As we should have," he crosses his arms. "I understand Desmond, honestly I do. He was a giant KFC bucket of crazy. But Hale? He chose that path himself."

"He was manipulated, just like me."

"No, he's nothing like you," Cole glowers. "Whatever the bastard told you is a lie. You heard Zane, he's probably lying to get on your good side."

I let out a derisive snort. "Right, because heaven forbid a guy is nice to me for any reason other than he wants to kill me."

Cole clenches his teeth. "That's not what I meant-"

"But it is!" my hands tighten on Kai's shirt. Anger flares, dark and powerful in my abdomen, and I struggle to swallow it. "You're just jealous because I'm spending more time with Hale than you!"

"Me? Jealous? Of that bastard? Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Just admit it, Cole. You're pissed off because you think Hale is making a move on me," my eyes narrow on his. "This has nothing to do with him trying to kill me or even for helping Desmond. You're just trying to mark your territory."

"Mark my-?" He staggers back with a shake of his head. "Ash-"

"No, I'm done with this conversation, alright?" I fold Kai's shirt into a neat rectangle and shove it into Cole's hands. "So here's my stance. Hale has changed, he's proven that to me. If you want to keep being the stupid, jealous, overprotective douchebag you've decided to be right now, fine. Then you and I can have an adult conversation later. But right now I think you're just full of hot air and need to take a breath before you explode, because the Cole I know actually trusts me."

He grimaces. "Ash-"

"You heard me," I step away from him and cross my arms. "So what's it going to be?"

His earth-toned eyes bore into mine, neither of us flinching in our stance. An eternity later, voices waft toward us from the other room, impatient and familiar. The others must be finishing up. Cole's gaze follows mine to the door separating us from the blissfully unaware crowd beyond, and he finally lets out a breath.

"Promise me something, Ash," he says slowly, waiting expectantly for me to respond. I do once I've swallowed my agitation.

"I'm listening."

"No more secrets. At least none like this. I hate being blindsided, especially when it comes to you," he speaks quietly, his gaze shifting to the floor. "We already almost lost you to Desmond, and as long as any trace of that bastard remains on the face of the planet I won't sleep easy." He lets out a breath. "But I trust you. Hell, probably more than I trust myself. But you can't hide things like this. Not when it could affect all of us."

"Alright, fine," I sit back on my heels. "No more big secrets, and no more blowing up at each other when we should be focused on Lloyd. Hale did save him when we couldn't, after all."

Cole grimaces. "Fine."

"So we have agreement?"

He nods, and I uncross my arms. "Then I guess that's it."

The voices erupt from beyond the wall, louder and more insistent. I turn to Cole. "We should go."

"Right," he nods.

I reach to open the door when he stops me with an arm. I glance back up into his dark eyes.

"Just, uh, one more thing."

"What?"

He lowers his face to mine. "I don't think of you as my territory."

I blink as he swings open the door, revealing our impatient friends and my rather attractive look of confused surprise.

Kai raises an auburn eyebrow. "Something happen in there?"

"Nothing," Cole throws the red ninja's shirt at his face. "Let's get out of here before we have to pay for the damage."

Cole doesn't speak to me for the rest of the night, but as the evening passes the tension that had existed between us since Hale left has dramatically lifted. Watching him as we divide up floor space to sleep on in our rickety new (?) apartment reminds me of when I first met him what feels like a thousand years ago. I smile a little to myself at the fond, if bizarre, memory of saving him from a group of thugs. Funny that the guy I saved in the middle of the woods turned out to be on my kill list and, later, one of my best friends.

As I lay down to sleep in the dim light of a candle Sensei meditates by, my attention turns to the gold bracelet coiled around my wrist. The intricate dragon whose powerful face and bogglingly detailed scales have led me through who-knows-how-many disasters. I glance over at one of its creators, snuggled like a caterpillar in a ratty blanket Zane had beat him over, and I can't help but feel extremely happy he went with my second option.

I close my eyes and let the fond memories fade to even fonder dreams.


	4. Pirates vs Ninja

_Hello and welcome again! If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to read the new one-shot added to the end of The Girl Who Played With Fire and to give me some ideas for new one-shots :) Some are in the works as we speak, and they'll be cranked out as I finish them. Anyway, this is kind of a longer chapter, and they'll only get longer from here. So sit back, relax, and don't hesitate to leave a review :)_

_Thanks for reading!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

Leaving my meditation is like waking up a second time. My eyes open slowly, barely focusing on the rickety walls of the flat as I blink into the sudden dimness. Spitfire curls around my wrist wearily, puffing a curl of lazy smoke as I wipe a few beads of sweat from my forehead.

I let out a yawn as I get to my feet and wiggle my fingers, smiling satisfactorily when a tame ribbon of fire wisps between my fingers. I stifle it against my palm. I've gotten much better at controlling the flames, leagues away from where I was just a few months ago, but I still have a lot to do. As I stare down at Spitfire's tired orange eyes, I'm reminded of just how limited my power is.

The sound of training rattles through the thin walls from the next room, and I leave the tiny supply closet to see the ninja are just finishing their morning training session with Lloyd.

I yawn as I approach Jay. "How's it going?" I ask with a stretch. My shoulder shifts and cracks loudly, making me cringe.

"Pretty well," Jay answers, not even flinching as my body pops. He snickers. "Kai's getting schooled."

My eyes fall to where Kai is slumped against the wall with Lloyd standing over him. I can't help but crack a smile.

"I see the student has become the teacher," Sensei chuckles nearby as he takes a sip of tea. "You will learn fast, Lloyd, with lessons from the four ninja."

"Great," Cole grins, elbowing me lightly. The tension that existed between us has all but disappeared, and looking into his comforting coffee-colored eyes I can't help but feel completely at home. A pot is balanced precariously on his head as a makeshift training helmet, and it wobbles whenever he talks. "Now that that lesson is over, how about some target practice on Kai?"

"You'll each get your turn," Sensei interrupts before anyone can make a move. His calm eyes fix on Lloyd. "But I don't want you to miss your next lesson with Nya."

"Aw, but when will I learn spinjitsu?" Lloyd whines, his shoulders slumping.

Sensei sighs. "Patience," he says. "It will only be unlocked when the key is ready to be found."

Lloyd grumbles something in response as he shuffles past me to find Nya. I smooth a few tangled hairs down as he passes, but he ignores me as he leaves the room.

Cole chuckles from beside me and I refocus my attention on the ninja. "Sound familiar?" he smirks at Kai.

"I wasn't that whiny," Kai grumbles as he gets to his feet.

"No," Zane grins. "You were worse."

Jay and I laugh in response, then the blue ninja grows serious. "Guys," he starts. "I know we're trying to prepare Lloyd for the future, but it's hard to give him the best training in these conditions."

"Jay's right," Cole glances around the slumped flat with a cringe. "I miss the Destiny's Bounty." He sighs. "Too bad it's gone."

"Hmm," Sensei muses. "I see your point. Perhaps we could find somewhere else to aid in his journey."

"Hale's mentioned a couple of places," I answer, watching Cole visibly tighten at the name. I hurry to finish my thought. "But as far as I know, none of them are capable of giving Lloyd the dynamic exercises he needs."

"Then we'll take a look around ourselves," Kai says. "It can't be too hard to find someplace good to train, right? I mean, we settled for this place." He kicks a loose floorboard, sending a couple of odd bugs scuttling to other hiding places. Jay blanches and staggers back a couple of steps.

"Very well," Sensei pours himself another cup of tea. "Be ready once he's finished his lesson with Nya."

* * *

"It's time we searched Ninjago City for a more suitable place to train Lloyd," Sensei speaks over the screaming cars and blaring sirens. Someone shouts something crude as they blow past us, and I nearly send an angry, spitting dragon after them. But then I remember Lloyd is standing just beside me and instead take a deep breath.

"But Sensei, Ninjago City is huge!" Jay complains as he stares up at the towering buildings around us. "It'll take us all day to find it on foot!"

"And without our golden weapons, we have no spinjitsu vehicles," Zane's white-blond eyebrows come together in thought. "How are we going to get around town?"

"You'll learn to travel with these," Sensei pulls a bus token from his pocket and holds it out. The ninja stand, awestruck.

"What are those?" Cole asks, staring at the coin like it's going to spurt wings and fly. I bite back a laugh. Lloyd opens his mouth to correct the black ninja, but I stop him with a tiny shake of my head.

"They can transport you anywhere you want to go in the city," Sensei's mouth twitches up in a smile as he speaks in a mystic voice, like he's reciting a prophecy.

"Like a magic portal?" Cole gasps.

"Ooh!" Jay cries. "Or a spinjitsu vortex?"

I let out a cough and turn away. Lloyd snickers a little.

"Hey, wait a minute," Cole mutters. "This is a bus token!"

I finally let out my laughter, and the ninja turn to glare at me and Sensei.

"Ah, that was priceless!" I wipe at my streaming eyes as Sensei lets out a chuckle.

"You totally fell for it!" Lloyd hoots with laughter. "Bus token- magic portal- ha!"

"Very funny," Kai rolls his eyes as Cole begrudgingly pockets the token. I struggle to stifle my laughter as he gives me another glare. "Not all of us grew up in a city."

"Neither did me or Lloyd," I chuckle as the kid gives me a high-five. "And yet here we are."

"A good amount of humor helps clear the mind for searching," Sensei chuckles with a shake of his head. He waves us toward the bus stop as his face finally smooths. "Now go use your magic token to find ourselves a new training ground."

* * *

We get off the bus just outside a small building marked with a wildly swinging sign. I look up at the fighting figure painted on it as the ninja pool onto the sidewalk behind me, grumbling amongst themselves about the crowded bus.

"Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo," I read. "Well, this is the place that lady pointed us to."

"This is where Lloyd is going to train?" Cole raises an eyebrow. "I knew we shouldn't have listened to her. She had a crazy look in her eye."

Jay shrugs. "It's better than our dumpy apartment."

"We're not looking for a five-star dojo here, Cole," I add as I try to catch a peek through the window. "Just something good enough to suit our needs."

"Well we're not learning anything out here," Kai pushes open the door. "Let's go in."

As we step into the small (if ramshackle) dojo, the light dims to a warm, cozy earth tone. Jay nods a little in appreciation as we continue down the hall and into the main training room. We gather at the edge of the training floor when a man emerges from a screen of beads on the opposite side of the room. He wears a dark brown fighting outfit that surprisingly suits him, and a copper star necklace winks at us from his low-slung robe.

"Welcome," he greets us in a mellow, smooth voice, examining his perfectly manicured nails as he approaches, "to Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo. I am Dareth and I dareth you to join my dojo."

He jumps into a weird fighting stance with a loud yowl, making the six of us jump. With another series of yells, he twists back into the screen of beads and traps himself in the strands.

Cole and I exchange weirded glances as Dareth frees himself from the bead trap and continues as if nothing happened.

"Face the wall of karate trophies," he gestures to a shrine of gold awards nearby. "If you look closely, my name is on all of them." He pauses and gives us a brilliantly white grin. "That is because I am a highly skilled karate machine."

"Look, Dareth," Kai starts, pushing Lloyd in front of him as he approaches the strange sensei. "We're wondering if we could share your dojo. You see, we've been put in charge of training this little guy to become the greatest ninja in all of Ninjago."

"Not possible," Dareth waves the thought aside with a dramatic hand. "For I am the greatest in the land." He raises a perfectly kept eyebrow. "How many trophies do _you_ have?"

"Look, pal," Jay huffs. "We're the people who just saved the city from that giant snake!"

Dareth scoffs. "Am I looking at Lord Garmadon?" his almond-colored eyes flick up and down the blue ninja. "Because unless I'm stupid, and I'm not, _Lord Garmadon_ destroyed the Devourer. The only one of you who has a claim to fame here is the dragon princess."

He grins at me. "Feel free to train here whenever you'd like, your majesty. Come and interact with a"- he winks- "higher caliber of warrior."

My mouth goes dry. "I'll-uh- keep that in mind," I press my lips tightly together as he gives me another wink. Cole steps imperceptibly in front of me as Jay's nervous laughter redirects the conversation.

"That's been a huge misunderstanding, actually," Jay chuckles awkwardly. "You see, we-"

"I'll let you train here, but only on one condition," Dareth smirks. "You can defeat me. If you succeed, we will share the dojo."

He shouts and strikes another pose. "That's right," he grins. "I: Grand Sensei Dareth, master of all animal fighting styles, challenge one of you to battle. I know the tiger" – he drops to his hands and knees, snarling- "the python" – he stands and waves his arms over his head with ridiculous hissing noises- "penguin" – he chirps while standing on his toes.

Kai pulls on his hood with a smirk, slamming one fist into the palm of his other hand. He mutters something about enjoying this and with a twirl sucks Dareth, screaming, into a vortex of fire. Kai slows to a stop, dropping Dareth onto the training floor with a gentle thud.

The sensei blinks and stares at us with an almost reverent amazement. "How did you-"

"You may know animals, but we know spinjitsu," Kai answers, grinning behind his hood.

Dareth gets to his feet. "You can train in my dojo anytime," he says with a bow of his head. "You are certainly worthy opponents."

* * *

"Concentrate your power, Iris. Allow the warmth to spread. Think of sunlight, not a forge."

I take one deep breath after another, following Stella's instructions as I sit, one leg bent slightly toward my chest. Even though only my consciousness is here in the hidden forest castle, the cold breeze that whistles through the cracks in the walls raises goosebumps on my exposed skin. My whole being hums with intense, yet controlled power as I take another deep breath and look up at the translucent girl above me. "I think I'm ready."

She smiles pleasantly. "Good. Now, light the candles."

My gaze flicks to the several unlit candles scattered around the dark room. Some are set on the ground while others hover above my head. The closest is several feet in front of me, nestled securely in the space between two tiles. They're milky white, made of a delicate wax that combusts if lit with too hot a flame, but won't light if the flame is too cold. They each last only a minute each.

I bite my lip. This will be the seventh time I've tried this test. In my other attempts, I either destroyed the candles or hesitated too long and let them burn out, but as I look at the empty wicks now my blood fills with an intense confidence. I've come a long way from being the terrified girl who ran from her power, and now I think I can finally prove I've mastered control.

I take another deep breath, inhaling the cool, comforting air before I draw Spitfire's power and send a carefully tempered flame from my fingertips and out into the room.

Sweat beads my forehead from my intense concentration as the focused flame spears through the hall, lighting candle after candle in succession. My stomach cramps against the tension, but I fight it and focus on the fire. Each second passes like an eternity, filled with agonizing concentration and tension that nearly makes me explode. But I don't. I hold on, finding strength the dragon that clasps my wrist.

Eons later, the last candle sputters to life. I collapse against the ground, completely exhausted as the breath I'd been holding explodes from my lips. My consciousness slips from my grasp and I feel myself spiraling out of my meditation. I struggle to hold onto it, but I'm already too far gone.

Stella's smile is the last thing I see.

"Perfect."

I open my eyes, coughing softly as I catch my breath. The familiar dojo ceiling stares back at me, whistling slightly as a breeze goes by outside. I sit up slowly, wiping away the sweat from my forehead as a smile starts to creep across my face. I did it. I've mastered control.

I get to my feet with a spring, excited to tell the others. I've been training with Stella for months now, working on harnessing my power and using it safely, and now that I've finally succeeded I feel more ready than ever to help Lloyd and the other ninja.

I leave the side room Dareth had directed me to a couple of hours earlier (a little awkwardly given the fact he couldn't help but point out each plaque of self-achievement cluttered on the walls) and head toward the training room. I clatter through the screen of beads when there's an ear-splitting crash.

My excitement snaps to terror as I rush into the room, expecting to find that a horde of enemies or even Garmadon has broken in to try and kidnap Lloyd again, but instead I'm met with four startled ninja clinging to various pieces of training equipment, Sensei calmly drinking tea, and Lloyd standing over a stack of broken boards and a giant crack in the ground.

"That was the power of the Scythe of Quakes," Kai gasps in awe as I let out a sigh of relief. The fire that had burst to life around my hands extinguishes with a soft hiss. "And you did it without the golden weapon!"

"That must be why you have the potential to be the greatest ninja," Zane says, his clear eyes sparking with excitement. "You can harness all of the elemental powers!"

"Really?" Lloyd looks at his hands with amazement. "Cool!"

"With this power, you must be careful," Sensei speaks sagely, "you must control it before it controls you."

He turns toward me. "You are early from your meditation, Ash. Were you having troubles?" he asks, raising a bushy white eyebrow.

I shake my head. "No problems at all," I smile. "That's why I came in here. I just finished my last test with Stella. You're looking at a completely controlled pyromaniac."

The other ninja cheer congratulations as Sensei offers an approving nod. His wise gaze shifts to Lloyd, who struggles to figure out whether he should pay more attention to me or his newfound power.

"That is very good," Sensei says, a smile tugging at his face as he watches his nephew. "And perfectly scheduled. If any of us can teach Lloyd control, it would be you."

I start. "What?" I shake my head. "Sorry, I know I'm supposed to help guide Lloyd on the right path and all, but shouldn't the ninja be training him?"

"Cut yourself some slack, Ash," Cole gives me a warm smile. "You're just as much a ninja as the rest of us."

"Mhm," Jay nods enthusiastically. "Besides, do you really want Kai to teach Lloyd control?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I frown. "I'm still not-"

"I have to admit, not bad for a kid," Dareth walks in behind me, cutting off any response. He's followed by a couple of karate students carrying boards of wood similar to what Lloyd was training with. He gives me a smirk and a wink as he walks past, and I shift back a couple of steps.

"But instead of ten boards, how about fifty?" he examines his nails as Sensei lets out an exasperated sigh. "Stack 'em, boys."

Dareth's students move forward and start stacking the boards while their sensei turns to us with a sly smile. "And perhaps if I, Grand Sensei Dareth, can break through them all you will allow me to join your team and become-" he turns away for a second before whirling around with a brown hood pulled over his face- "the Brown Ninja!"

Jay lets out a snort. "The brown ninja?" he echoes. "You gotta be joking!"

"Sorry, pal," Cole chuckles. "Club's already full."

"Okay, okay," Dareth doesn't balk. "Then maybe this demonstration of my superhuman strength may persuade you.

"Jeffrey, Phil!" he shouts at his two students. "Are we ready?"

"Yes, Grand Sensei Dareth!" they answer with clumsy bows.

"Observe," Dareth turns back to the stack of boards and starts to mutter something under his breath. "I call upon the greatest animal to give me strength. _The dragon_."

He lets out a yell as he brings his hand down in a wild swing. There's a sickening slap as his skin hits the boards and I look away, stifling laughter and a cringe as he screams in agony. The ninja burst into laughter as Dareth runs in circles, nursing his injured hand as he comes to a stop in front of me.

"Forgive me, princess," he falls to his knees and grasps at my hand, staring up at me with watery, pleading eyes. "I have failed you."

"No, um, it's okay," I carefully tug my hand away from him. "That was, um, a really good try, I guess."

"Sorry, Dareth," Cole chuckles as he approaches and slips an arm over my shoulders. "But only a _higher caliber of warrior_ can become a ninja."

"I will make it up to you, your highness, I vow on my status as the brown ninja that I will become worthy to fight at your side!" Dareth declares as he gets to his feet, ushering to his students as he rushes from the room. "I vow!"

Cole laughs beside me as Dareth disappears through his screen of beads, and it takes a few seconds before peace settles back over the training room.

"I can't believe he seriously tried to become a ninja," Jay shakes his head.

"I can't believe he's so obsessed with Ash," Kai chuckles. "I mean, no offense, but I've never seen anyone go so crazy over you. You know, besides Cole."

"Hey!"

"It's fine," I shake my head and peel myself away from Cole to face Sensei. "I think it's time we go home. It's getting dark out and I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."

Lloyd's stomach growls as if on cue, answered soon by the other four ninja.

"Point made," Sensei nods. "Go on ahead. I think I will stay behind and meditate for a bit now that you are done."

"Alrighty then, more food for us," Jay shuffles his hands together as he starts out the door.

"Just let us know if the _brown_ _ninja_ wants to challenge us again," Kai adds as we follow, starting another fit of laughter as we exit the dojo.

We step into the late-afternoon light that flickers down on the sidewalk, moving from laughter to a debate on where to eat, but even that conversation ends as the light disappears overhead and something whips past us from above.

"Oh, that's our ship!" Jay shouts, pointing at the sky where none other than the Destiny's Bounty soars overhead.

"That's impossible, it was destroyed!" I follow his hand, but the more I stare at it, the more I realize it's our ship. "No way…"

Shapes scramble on the deck, laughing and shouting in grizzled voices I've only heard in movies and TV shows, and I struggle to make sense of it.

"Pirates?" Lloyd asks, echoing the question on all of our minds.

"Pirates haven't been around for centuries," Cole shakes his head.

Zane's eyes narrow. "I sense Lord Garmadon is somehow behind this."

"We have to find out what they're doing," I say as my fire flares to life beneath me. Lloyd catches my sleeve before I can take off.

"How are we going to follow them?"

I pause. "Good question," I turn back to the ninja. "I can fly after them, but what about you?"

"Perhaps this can be of some use," Kai grins, holding out a bus token just as a bus rolls up to the curb.

"Looks like we found a way," Cole grins. "Go on ahead, Ash. We'll catch up."

Despite my doubt, I reignite my fire as the ninja step onto the bus. The doors slide shut as I lift off from the street in a blaze of curling scarlet flames. I start after the ship as the bus lurches behind me in pursuit. I glance behind me as colorful shapes appear on top of the bus, minus Lloyd. Spitfire whirrs. They must have told Lloyd he wasn't ready to come with us, a fact that the kid would have fought tooth and nail. My hands clench, and I struggle to relax them. I'll have to train Lloyd much faster than I trained myself if he has any chance of controlling his power.

The distance between us and the ship closes with each second, and as I blaze forward to grab hold of a windowsill the ninja reach for the low-slung anchor rope. My fingers clasp on the gleaming wood and I scramble to grab a foothold as it continues to sail forward. I glance back at the ninja just as their bus screeches to a stop for an old woman crossing the street.

Jay lets out an angry shout that carries through the growing distance between us. "Come on, people, we're trying to save the city here!"

"Guys?" I shout as the bus starts to shrink away. My foot slips on the sill and I let out a yelp, barely regaining my hold before I plummet off the side of the ship.

"Go!" Cole yells back with a wave. Jay yells something else at the old lady, but she continues to take her sweet time across the street. "We'll catch up!"

I grimace. Looks like my test of control is going to come in handy if I have to face these pirates alone. I shake the thought aside as I carefully climb higher up the ship, fighting the urge to look down at the ever sinking ground beneath me. Even with my sporadic powers of flight, my stomach still lurches with nausea at the thought of falling.

I just emerge over the lip of the Bounty when there's a loud, familiar cry.

"Surrender, or face the brown ninja!"

"Oh, no."

I pull myself onto the deck and huddle behind a low wall, watching with barely contained exasperation as a tall, burly man approaches Dareth, who stands as obnoxiously overconfident as ever.

"Pajama Man!" the pirate growls. With the hat he's wearing, the movies weren't as historically inaccurate as I thought they were. He turns to the other pirates with an angry hiss. "Get him!"

"The wolf!" Dareth snarls as a group of pirates circles him, snickering amongst themselves as their captain steps forward. I want to help, but I'm too far away. "The spider! The hippo!"

The captain slashes at Dareth with his sword, tearing his shirt to ribbons much to the amusement of his crew. I cringe as Dareth gasps and covers his suddenly exposed torso with his arms.

He laughs nervously. "Those swords are really sharp."

One of the other pirates throws a rope over Dareth from behind, tugging him to the deck with little effort. Some of the other pirates grab a few more yards of rope and together they tie his arms tightly behind his back. I creep forward a few more steps and squeeze behind a rail.

"Oh, nuts," Dareth mumbles, his face downcast as the pirates step back to admire their handiwork.

"Mitch!" the captain barks at another pirate, completely ignoring his new prisoner. "Keep an eye out for any other silly masked pajama people."

Dareth finally cracks. "Ah! Please! Help!"

I grimace at his sudden, loud wailing. There are a lot of pirates on the deck, more than I can take on my own, at least with a hostage around. If I go in hands blazing, I risk hurting Dareth.

"Dammit, Dareth," I hiss under my breath. "Why couldn't you have stayed behind?"

A few minutes pass before the pirates decide they're bored watching Dareth squirm in his bonds. The captain steps forward with a cold sneer.

"How about we have him walk the plank?" the captain laughs, gesturing for his crew to push a terrified Dareth toward the plank. I creep forward another few steps, being careful to stay hidden as I duck behind a barrel.

"You're making a big mistake," Dareth's voice trembles as he's shoved onto the rickety board of wood. "Don't make me call upon the dragon!"

"Who here wants to see him go 'splat'?" the captain asks, and the group of pirates behind him erupts into an excited cheer. Dareth is shoved forward another step. I have to move. My hands light as I start to emerge from my hiding place.

"Who here wants to see him live?"

I pause. Another chorus of 'ayes' starts, but the voice doesn't belong to a pirate's. It's Jay's.

I drop back into my hiding spot as I take a closer look at the pirates at the front of the crowd, realizing with a trace of amusement that it's the ninja dressed in ridiculously cheesy outfits that seem to do their job. I shake my head.

"Alright, then."

"The plank's getting shorter, huh?" the pirate captain chuckles into Dareth's ear as he pulls out his sword and holds it to the sensei's throat. I cringe as the sharp blade pricks Dareth's skin.

"W-we don't need to do this, fellas," Dareth shudders, his eyes crossing as he struggles to watch the point of the sword. "I'm a lousy martial artist. What I do, I wouldn't even call it an art. I know I say I'm a brown belt, but I painted it! And my trophies? They're all fake!"

The captain shoves him forward and off the edge of the plank, sending Dareth screaming into the open air. I jolt from my hiding spot and clamber to the railing, not even bothering with stealth as I wait to hear his shout jolt to a stop. Instead, a roar rips through the air and Lloyd's dragon screams past the ship, carrying a hysterical Dareth as it spirals into the sky. I let out a breath as the pirates suddenly notice my presence. The ninja take that as their cue and mobilize, moving to my side as they tear off their ridiculous outfits to reveal their normal suits.

The captain staggers back. "More pajama men!"

"Where?" the pirate next to him asks, looking around with double-eyepatched eyes. "I can't see!"

Fire blazes to life in my hands as the ninja pull their weapons, staring down the pirates in an intense silence interrupted only by the slap of the sails above our heads. Cole moves first, using Jay's nunchuks as a springboard as he swings his scythe and slices the feather on the captain's hat clean in two. Its pieces fall slowly to the floorboards, every pair of eyes on deck watching them as they settle on the deck in tatters. There are a few seconds of silence before the pirates erupt in loud, angry growls.

I start forward as Zane sets off a smoke bomb, using it to cover me as I attack one of the pirates from behind. I let out a burst of flame that sends him pitching over the edge of the ship and onto the top of a high-rise. Another couple of pirates struggle to see through the haze and I push them both over the railing with another wave of fire. There's a loud yowl from behind me and I turn as a pirate runs at me wildly with a sword. I raise my hand and concentrate my fire as Stella taught me, melting the blade of the pirate's sword in a shield of brilliant fire before I knock him out with a swift blow to the head.

"Ash, watch out!"

I wheel around just as the captain's sword hisses past my face. I drop and recover quickly, twirling in a scatter of fire as I face him. His eyes widen in disbelief and his sword nearly slips from his hand.

"It cannot be," he gasps. "I thought Ria harnessed the winds, not fire."

"Ria?" I ask just as the name rings with familiarity. Ria. Queen of Wind, Stella's daughter. I've never met her personally, but Stella loved to talk about her, how she was, what she did. She's one of my oldest ancestors, and if these pirates are as old as Cole said they are, then they must have lived around her time.

The flames curl tight around my fingers as Spitfire hums a threatening purr. "I'm not Ria," I answer the captain. "But I am her descendant. The name's Ash."

I send a burst of fire blazing toward the captain's head, but he dodges it with a quick duck, swinging his sword at me in the same motion. I drop out of the way and kick at his legs, but he steps backward and takes another slice at my neck. I roll out of the way too slowly and the blade rips into my shoulder, slicing through my shirt and tearing cleanly through the skin underneath. A wild scream rips from my throat as I land on my back and clutch at my shoulder. Blood seeps from between my fingers too fast for me to stop, choking my nose with the stench of iron.

"Ash!" Zane rushes toward me, but he'll be too late. The captain glares down at me with a haunting smirk, raising his arm with dramatic slowness as he brings his blade down on my face.

A dragon's roar tears through the air, muddled with the shout of an all-too-familiar voice.

"Ninja, go!"

Lloyd appears suddenly, swinging on a rope with white-clenched hands. He smacks into Zane, shoving him onto the deck of the ship before knocking the captain away from me. The pirate staggers to his feet and glares at the kid with a threatening growl.

"Pirate, go!" he shouts as he sends his blade hissing toward Lloyd's unprotected head. Kai intercepts just in time, forcing Lloyd behind his back as he faces the captain. I push myself up against the side of the ship, still clutching my shoulder as my vision swims.

"Lloyd, you're not supposed to be here!" Kai yells as he shoves Lloyd into the barrel I hid behind earlier. One of the other pirates advances on me, but Kai kicks him aside and turns back to the captain.

Lloyd tips over the barrel with a shout and somehow gets to his feet, running blindly into the captain and shoving him away before his crashes against a nearby switch. Kai turns to me just as Lloyd regains his footing and attacks the other pirate, falling over again and rolling toward us.

"Lloyd!" Kai jumps on the barrel and scrambles to roll it away from me, but he quickly loses control and, with a loud yell, disappears over the side of the ship.

"Kai!" I shout, struggling to my feet before my entire arm and neck jolts with sour agony. I stumble back down as more metallic-scented blood spills through my shirt. Spitfire warbles in misery as a scramble of uncontrolled fire explodes from my fingers, barely extinguishing as I clench my hands shut.

The pirate captain emerges from the deck as Lloyd scrambles to his feet, still trapped in his barrel.

"Lloyd," I warn him, fighting to form words through the pain and blood-loss that clouds my vision. He turns and spots the captain between gaps in the boards, dropping into the fighting stance Cole taught him just a few days ago.

"I'll kill Ria's spawn after I deal with you, pajama boy," the captain growls as he fixes his grip on his blood-streamed blade. He lunges forward with a feral cry, swinging wildly at Lloyd's feet before the kid ducks out of the way with practiced ease and a determined stance.

"Come here, you blurry little munchkin!" the captain shouts before slicing again at Lloyd's feet.

A growl bubbles in Lloyd's throat, and something sparks from the barrel. I wonder if I'm seeing things through the blood loss. "Ninja, go!" he shouts, brilliant light streaming from the barrel as it starts to spin wildly before exploding in a burst of light and sound. The captain staggers away, shoved back by Lloyd's sudden display of power as he lands back on deck, his eyes wide and amazed by his own strength.

"Spinjitsu," I mutter in awe, forgetting the pain for just a few seconds. Cold had told me how long it had taken each of the ninja to learn the ancient martial art, and Lloyd… tiny, scrawny, defenseless Lloyd has already figured it out?

"Whoa! Spinjitsu!" Lloyd gasps, echoing my thoughts. He turns to me with wide, excited eyes. "I just did spinjitsu for the first time!"

"Lloyd, look out!" I shout as the captain slams a thick arm into Lloyd from behind. Lloyd pitches forward and into the switch from earlier, rolling over and onto his feet in the same motion. He blinks away the stars in his eyes and faces the captain as the other ninja scramble into view to support him. I let out a shuddering breath as I recognize Kai, who looks battered, but mostly unscathed since his fall.

My hazy vision focuses on Lloyd as he lets out a shout of exertion, light exploding around his body as a ball of crackling energy sparks to life in his hands. The light engulfs his entire body and lifts him from the ground in a surge of brilliant green energy. The ninja stagger back.

"No, don't!" Kai yells. "Your powers are too uncontrollable!"

Lloyd's energy explodes, spiraling uncontrollably into the sky and knocking against the mast of the ship. The sound of cracking wood splits the air like cannon fire, shattering everyone's hearing with agonizing force. The mast teeters, then finally begins to fall straight toward the deck.

Cole's eyes meet mine as time slows to an agonizing stop. He's gauging how much time it would take to reach me, but it won't be enough. I wave him forward with a bloodied hand.

"Go!" I shout, watching as the other ninja and remaining pirates scramble away from the plummeting mast. "Now!"

Jay grabs Cole and tugs him away, toward the far side of the Bounty. I crumple into a ball and flatten myself against the wall of the ship as the mast lets out one last, agonizing scream before smashing into the deck. Splinters fly as the Bounty shudders and cracks beneath me, cutting my face and arms and nearly sending me tumbling off the ship in a burst of excruciating pain. I clasp the railing with weak, bloodied fingers that barely keep me steady as the ship slowly settles. Blood smears my face as I wipe away a few scattered fragments of wood and struggle to focus on the deck below. As the dust begins to clear, the ninja crawl out from beneath a pile of shattered wood. The pirates have already recovered and stand over the battered ninja, holding their swords at their throats.

"You lose, pajama people," the pirate captain chuckles with a sneer. "Even with the blessing of the Queen of Ninjago. Now you're walking the plank."

The pirates echo his menacing laugh, but they're cut short as a loud booming noise slices through the stillness.

The Samurai roars to life over the side of the ship, sending terrified pirates scurrying away as I breathe a sigh of relief. Nya grasps the fallen mast in her mech's hands, raising it high above her head before slamming it down onto the deck. The pirates are thrown off their feet as she lets out a mechanized chuckle and slides the mast back into place. The ninja get to their feet as she emerges from the mech, and I struggle to follow.

Cole approaches at a run. "Hold on," he grabs hold of my other side and helps me stand. Dried blood cakes my hands as I shift in his grasp and stifle an agonized moan. Fire sparks from my hands and he recoils.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologize, clenching my hands as Spitfire coils tightly around my wrist. "I'm shorting out."

Cole grimaces. "Let me take a look."

I let my hand leave my shoulder and he inspects the wound closely. "It looks deep, but clean," he mutters half to himself. "You're going to need stitches, but I think you'll be alright."

"Comforting," I clench my teeth as I press my hand back against the wound.

"Here," Cole pulls off his silver belt and ties over my shoulder as a makeshift bandage.

I raise an impressed eyebrow. "Not half bad. Have you been taking lessons with Zane?"

"Funny," he snorts. "I picked it up after you started coming home broken."

I punch his arm with my good hand. "You're lucky I like you."

A smile quirks his lips. "I know."

He glances up where a few police cars scream into view, sirens blaring. He turns back to me. "Come on, the others are waiting for us."

My shoulder shifts agonizingly as I struggle to climb down the ladder, but with Cole's help we descend safely and join the other ninja to watch the pirates get packed into police cars.

"Good work, team," one of the cops congratulates us with a thumbs-up.

"Well, don't forget to include this guy," Kai pulls Lloyd closer to us with a smile. The kid beams.

The cop answers with an indifferent mumble. "That your ship?" he asks Jay, pointing over our heads at the Bounty.

"Sure is," Jay answers with a grin just as the ship's engines fire up and a familiar voice tears through the blare of sirens.

"Sorry, you snooze, you lose!" Garmadon laughs from the ship, his dark face contorted with twisted glee.

"Lord Garmadon!" Kai shouts, gritting his teeth. Lloyd tugs away from him.

"Dad!"

"You're becoming stronger, son, but you'll never be strong enough to defeat me!" Garmadon glares down at his son. His hands clench tightly on the railing, betraying the desperation that grips him. "Give up before it's too late!"

Lloyd turns to us, his face twisted with indecisiveness. It must be agonizing having to choose between his friends and his father, and all I can do is offer him a reassuring smile as his hands tighten.

"It's okay, Lloyd," I watch his eyes drop. "It's okay."

Lloyd swallows hard, closing his eyes for a second before he lifts his gaze back to his father. His jaw is set tightly with determination as he steps back and falls into line between me and Cole.

Garmadon rumbles a furious growl. "Have it your way," his dark hands clench even tighter on the railing as the Bounty begins to rise into the sky. "Another day, ninja, another day!"

"Oh great," Jay grumbles. "Lord Garmadon is back and now he's got our ship!"

"Well, at least we've got this little guy," Cole puts a comforting hand on Lloyd's shoulder and offers a smile.

"That's something he'll never have," I add, nudging Lloyd lightly with my good hand.

There's a casual whistle from behind us, then a loud yell as Jay suddenly jumps and flips an all-too-familiar person over his head and onto the sidewalk.

"Jay!"

"Sorry, I thought he was a pirate!" Jay shudders as Dareth blinks away the stars that are no doubt exploding behind his eyes.

I shake my head and crouch down in front of the sensei, cringing a little as my shoulder twists painfully. Spitfire whirrs uncomfortably, but at least the bleeding has stopped.

"You okay, Dareth?"

"I think a little rattling is well deserved," Kai crosses his arms over his chest. "Maybe next time you'll leave saving the city to the professionals."

"Aw, come on guys," Dareth grumbles as he rubs his hands together anxiously. "I dareth you to forgive me."

We burst into laughter as Lloyd steps forward and helps Dareth to his feet, pulling him into the amusement as the sun finally sets.


	5. Double Trouble

_Welcome, again :) I really hope you enjoy this episode, as it literally killed me to write. Not that it was a feels trip or anything, but this definitely has some of my favorite dialogue. Ever. Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated, and ideas are always welcomed as well :)_

_Thanks!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

"Focus, Lloyd," Jay circles behind the small ninja as he clutches a light bulb tightly in his hands. "Control the power inside you. When you feel a surge welling up, harness it!"

"I understand," Lloyd nods as he turns his eyes back to the light bulb. He takes a deep breath. "I am in control."

He concentrates intensely on the bulb, gritting his teeth as he tightens his hands. The filament starts to glow brightly.

"Come on, Lloyd, you can do it!" Jay shouts encouragingly.

The light bulb blazes bright, nearly blinding for a couple of seconds before it bursts into a shower of splintered glass and metal, making everyone jump. Lloyd lets out a loud moan.

"Stupid light bulb!" he curses it before turning to the ninja. "You're putting too much pressure on me! Let me have one more try!"

Kai grimaces. "Sorry, Lloyd. That was the last light bulb."

Lloyd looks down at the floor where the remnants of at least a dozen other light bulbs flicker with bits of residual power. He clenches his teeth angrily.

"I'd be getting it faster if Ash was training me," he grumbles.

I let out a sigh as I finish wrapping my shoulder. "I explained this already, Lloyd," I give him a gentle smile as I pull myself to my feet. My shoulder twists and aches, but I'm able to ignore it as I approach the small trainee. "I'm not exactly in control at the moment. Until my shoulder's better, my powers are just too sporadic"- I wave a couple of fingers, frowning as sparks of flame explode between them before I stifle them in a hiss of smoke- "I'd be teaching you how to explode light bulbs the best way, not how to light them."

"But-"

"Clean up, Lloyd. We'll continue training tomorrow," Cole hands him a broom, which he takes angrily before stomping off toward a punching bag. He attacks it with the broom, completely ignoring the broken glass on the floor.

"I know Ash is supposed to teach him, but what am I doing wrong, Sensei Wu?" Jay grumbles. "I can't seem to teach him to control his power."

The punching bag suddenly recoils, throwing Lloyd onto his back, but he recovers.

"You dare to defy the green ninja?" he yells at the bag as he scrambles to his feet.

"Patience, Jay," Sensei says as he moves beside blue ninja. He adjusts his grip on his staff. "Sometimes the greatest opponent we face is ourselves, and that's especially true of Lloyd."

Sensei takes Jay's shoulder and starts to lead him toward the door, away from the angry kid. "Remember where he came from. He's the son of Lord Garmadon. It's going to take time for him to embrace the light."

"I'm sure he'll make it," I watch Lloyd pummel the punching bag, remembering another kid who would train just as hard with her father every day. I blink aside the tainted memories.

The door bangs open suddenly, jerking me from my reverie as Nya appears with her usual brilliant smile.

"Hey, guys," she greets us with a friendly wave.

"Hey, Nya," we wave back before her auburn-colored eyes fall to Jay. I cough to cover a smile.

"Hey, Jay," she greets him in a gentler voice, grasping her hands behind her back as she approaches him. "Wanna come by the auto body shop later?"

"Uh, the auto body shop?" Jay stutters. His hands twitch nervously as he struggles to figure out what to do with them.

"Smooth," Cole chuckles from beside me, and I choke back a laugh.

"Please, this is kinda creepy," Kai grimaces.

"I think they're cute together," I smile. "Or would you rather have Nya dating some crazed gangbanger on the street?"

"At least the guy wouldn't be like a brother to me!"

"Yeah, I got a part time job," Nya smiles, redirecting my attention to their conversation, even as the guys continue whispering beside me. "Thought I could fix the Ultrasonic Raider in my off time. Maybe if you come over I can show you what I've been working on."

"Uh, sure!" Jay hastily agrees, letting a nervous laugh slip as he looks for a distraction. "Um, what have you got there?"

Nya lifts the paper she's holding. "Oh, um, this letter came for Lloyd," she hands it to Sensei, who takes it curiously.

"Hmm," Sensei muses as he peers at the elegant script on its surface. "It's from Lloyd's old school."

"The Darkly School for Bad Boys?" Cole asks as he leaves the heavy debate that has somehow turned to the boundaries of dating someone else's siblings and approaches Sensei and Nya. The rest of us soon follow.

"Formerly bad boys," Sensei corrects as he tears open the letter. "Since the last time we were there, they've changed to the Darkly School for Great Children."

"Wait," Kai chuckles dubiously. "They've turned good?"

"It says here there's going to be a ceremony," Sensei narrows his eyes at the small type printed on the tri-folded paper.

"I love ceremonies!" Cole elbows Kai lightly. "That means there's gonna be cake!"

"Cole," I roll my eyes.

"Lloyd's change inspired them," Sensei reads. "Now they've invited Lloyd to give him an honorary degree in excellence."

On the other side of the dojo, Lloyd splits the broom he'd been holding in half before diving headfirst at the punching bag. I bite back a laugh.

"Are we sure we're talking about the same Lloyd?" Kai grimaces.

"He has come a long way since we found him," Zane says, "and he is the chosen green ninja."

"He just needs some work," Cole agrees.

"And that's why you are going with him," Sensei turns to us. "Until Lloyd reaches his full potential, you are his teachers. You will stand beside him when he accepts his degree."

"Cool, now I don't have to worry about short stuff eating all the cake," Cole grins as he bumps my good arm lightly with his.

"Or me."

"You're not going?"

I shake my head. "I heal faster than the average person, but I'd rather not risk the chance of burning the school down," I glance down at Spitfire, who twirls tiredly around my wrist as he has over the past couple of days. "So I think I'll stay behind and uh, read or something."

"You can help me with repairs," Nya offers with a smile. "There's plenty of work to be done, and I'd love to have the extra hand."

"Awesome," I turn to Cole. "Besides, you don't need me around to accept a piece of paper and eat cake in a civilized manner?" I give him a pointed look, and he just shrugs back.

"How are we even going to get there?" Jay asks. "I doubt the bus goes all the way out to Darkly's."

"Oh, that reminds me," Nya pipes up. "Ultra Dragon is feeling much better, and I'm sure he'd be okay if you wanted to fly him out. I think it's about time Lloyd figured out how to ride him."

I grimace. "On second thought, maybe you do need my help."

"Nonsense," Cole waves my words aside. "Lloyd will be able to fly circles around the city with me as his teacher."

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?"

"Whatever you decide, you must leave soon," Sensei says. "The ceremony is to be held this afternoon, and if you want to be on time you should leave within the hour."

"We'll be fine, Ash. I promise," Cole gives me soft look, and with a sigh my willpower gives way.

"Alright. Just don't do anything stupid, alright?" I raise an eyebrow. "Let's not get sued for you punching someone over cake."

"Like I would hurt someone over cake."

My face doesn't change, and he rolls his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll keep my appetite under control-"

"Do not worry, Ash, we will make sure everyone is safe," Zane gives me a reassuring smile as a chuckle rumbles deep in his chest.

"Thank you, Zane," I nod as Cole rolls his eyes again.

"We should get a move on, especially if Lloyd is driving," Kai swallows a lump of fear as Lloyd looks up excitedly.

"I get to drive? Awesome!"

I cringe and turn to Zane, who is already offering me another reassuring nod.

"I'll watch after them."

* * *

The late afternoon air is pleasantly cool as I walk to the auto body shop Nya had described to me a couple of hours earlier. I had just finished my afternoon meditation at our amusingly quiet apartment, and even after just an hour of contemplation and careful exercises with Stella, Spitfire swirls more strongly on my wrist. My shoulder still throbs and pulls whenever I move my arm, but the sharp, bitter pain that had tortured me in the hours after I'd received it is gone. Another day or so and I'll be back to normal.

I just turn a corner when a sudden screeching noise tears into my eardrums. I stagger back as the Ultrasonic Raider squeals past me in a plume of smoke, screaming to a stop just across the street in a concentrated explosion of steam and stinking fumes. I cough and wave away the acrid, suffocating smoke that stings my eyes as I clumsily make my way toward the Raider. I knew Nya wanted to take it for a test drive before the boys came back, but I'd expected her to wait until I showed up. Then again, maybe she was testing out another of her "surprises".

As the smoke clears, I make out three familiar shapes that wait on the sidewalk, and another fourth as the hatch opens and it joins them. Nya isn't among the ninja, but now things makes sense. They would have been too excited to wait for anyone once they found out the Raider was in working order.

"Hey, guys," I greet them as I approach. Another cough finally clears my airway. "You're back already?"

The four of them turn toward me and I notice they're all wearing dark-tinted sunglasses. Strange. They must have picked them up on their way back.

"Hey, Ash," Cole greets me with a wide grin, flashing teeth in an expression I haven't seen before. "How are you?"

"Better," I answer as Spitfire whirrs a contended hum. "My shoulder's healing well. I should be back in action in another day or two."

"That's fantastic," his grin widens. "It'll be good to have you back."

I creep a little closer, struggling to see his eyes behind his sunglasses. "So, uh, what's up with you? You're gone for a few hours and you pick up a new attitude on life?"

"It's just a new thing I'm trying out," he stalks closer to me, and I'm suddenly aware of his body just an inch from mine. I cough to keep my focus. "Girls love the bad-boy type, don't they?"

I lick my lips and cough again as heat floods my face. "So, uh, where's Lloyd?"

"He's still at Darkly's," Cole shrugs. "We're off to pick him up right now."

"Oh? You weren't trapped by the promise of cake?" I raise an eyebrow. "I'm impressed."

"What can I say? There were things here that I wanted to-ah- indulge in more," his grin grows suggestive as couple of long fingers stroke my arm. My face burns.

"Oh- uh-" I stutter, very aware of our audience. I struggle to form coherent words. "Maybe we should- uh- go pick up Lloyd. I mean, we can't leave him there forever without some-uh- supervision-"

Cole whistles through his teeth. "Sorry, doll-face, maybe next time. You should stay behind and we can, oh, I don't know, _indulge _when I get back."

I suck in a shaky breath and shove my hands into my pockets. When did it get so hard to breathe? "As much as I'd-uh- love to… _indulge_, I think some heavier exercise would be better for me."

His grin widens, and I suddenly realize what I've said. My face screams. "I mean- well, what I meant to say was-"

"It's alright, sweetheart, I get it," he chuckles deep in his chest as a few blazing fingers scorch a trail down my cheek. I bite back a pleasant shudder. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist. This is a boy's only type of mission."

He lowers his face to mine, his breath wisping just over my lips. I shudder. "I mean it is, after all, Darkly's School for Bad Boys."

What? That wasn't what Sensei-

Spitfire whirrs uncomfortably on my arm as something clicks in my head. I take a step back, every screaming nerve in my body completely forgotten. I peer closer at the man in front of me. "But the letter said they changed their name to Darkly's School for Great Children."

Cole- no, not Cole- laughs softly. "Right, right," he nods, his face quirking in an eerily unfamiliar way. "They do. I guess we could squeeze you in…"

He reaches for my arm as Spitfire lets out a yowl and snaps at his fingers. The fake Cole recoils as I jump away from him, concentrating whatever reliable power I have into my legs and hands to give me lift. I start to rise into the air as the fake Cole grabs at my ankle, yanking me back down before I can escape.

"What's the hurry, sweetheart?" he growls as the other fake ninja approach, grinning twistedly as he grasps at my legs. I tear at his grip with scorching fingers.

"Let me go!" I scream as I struggle and finally slam my heel into the fake Cole's face. He recoils with an agonized shout as his sunglasses scatter away, revealing burning red eyes that make my heart stop. I shove aside the terror as my fire sputters to life around me and I soar out of reach and into the sky. The fakes, clones, _things_ shout terrifying threats after me that I ignore as I rise above the towers and turn in the direction of Darkly's.

My fire sputters uncontrollably as I struggle to push myself faster. My shoulder screams with pain, but I ignore it as all thoughts focus on the long journey ahead and what I might find at my destination. The boys have only been gone a few hours. What could have happened to them in such a short amount of time? I get the sickening feeling this is another of Garmadon's ploys to get Lloyd back, but how does cloning the ninja accomplish that? I shake the thoughts aside and try to focus on conserving energy. If my fears are true, then I'm going to need all the power I can get.

* * *

The halls are completely empty, and my footsteps echo loudly as I search the school for any sign of the ninja, the ceremony, Lloyd- anything. But all that greets me is silence.

"Cole?" I call out into the emptiness. "Lloyd? Anyone?"

Something explodes outside and I know I've run out of time. I duck around a corner and flatten myself against the wall, hoping I can find the ninja before I have to face their clones alone. I can take one by myself, maybe, but all four?

I peer around the corner, forcing myself to keep calm as something moves into the hall. My stomach sinks before I realize it's just a group of kids. I let out a deep breath of relief. Kids, I can handle.

I start to leave my hiding spot when the fake ninja suddenly leap into view, sending me staggering back with a wall of terror.

The boy at the front of the group gasps. I recognize him from the stories Lloyd told me of his time here, of the first friend he'd made when he was dropped off years ago. Brad. "The ninja escaped!" the dark-haired kid shouts. I'm riveted in my spot. _Escaped_? What? "Execute Doomsday formations!" The boys behind him scramble into organized spots, and I'm fixated as I watch them.

"Spitball brigade, step forward!" he orders a group of four boys. They move toward the fake ninja, brandishing thin bamboo tubes and blowing a flurry of spitballs that fly toward them with disgusting accuracy. The clones jump out of the way before the fake Cole pulls a cabinet from the wall and throws it to the floor, blocking the assault.

Brad lets out a frustrated growl, his small hands tightening as he turns to his makeshift army. "Smoke bomb brigade, step forward!"

A second group volleys black balls that explode in plumes of white smoke as they hit the clones head on. The boys laugh as they disappear in a cloud, but stop short as the clones blow it away with their spinjitsu. I cringe. Even their powers are perfectly mimicked.

Brad, on the other hand, doesn't break a sweat. He waves another group forward. "Dodgeball brigade!" he narrows his eyes at the fake ninja. "Ready… Fire!"

The fake Zane catches most of the volley, passing them to the other three clones as the stare down the kids with malicious glee.

"Our turn," the fake Kai grins beneath his hood.

"Run!" all the boy general's confidence vanishes as he and the other boys turn tail and rush down the hallway toward me. I emerge from my hiding spot as dodgeballs smack down a few of the boys. I rush forward, shoving any doubt aside as I obliterate a couple of the dodgeballs and face the fake ninja.

"There you are, doll-face," the fake Cole greets me with a perverse smile. "Miss me?"

I raise my arm with a growl just as the fake Zane rushes me, twisting my arm toward him and jarring my shoulder with shattering agony that blurs my vision. The fake Cole slams me against the wall, ignoring my struggles as he shoves my screaming shoulder into the stone. The fake Kai lifts Brad from the floor where he'd fallen and glowers into his face.

"Where are the ninja?" he growls, and all Brad can do is stammer back in absolute terror.

"Leave him alone!" I shout, earning another slam from Cole's grip. My vision pops with agony as I bite down an anguished scream.

"This doesn't concern you, sweetheart," he hisses at me. "Garmadon said as long as you didn't meddle, we wouldn't have to hurt you."

"Like hell," I kick wildly at his legs, but he only presses himself closer. "Why don't you let me go and face me yourself, you coward!"

"You aren't exactly in the best position to be making threats, princess," the clone chuckles beneath his hood. His eyes flash behind his sunglasses. "We're the ninja's equals. You can't beat us. You'd be better off helping us out before we hurt any more of your friends."

My heart plummets. "What did you do to Sensei and Nya?"

"He says the ninja are this way!" the fake Kai points farther down the hallway. Brad shudders in his grip, holding back terrified sobs. "They're in some sort of cell."

The fake Cole nods and tugs me away from the wall, only to shove me toward the fake Zane.

"Hold onto her tight. We wouldn't want to anything to happen, right princess?" the fake Cole chuckles, stroking a nauseating finger across my cheek as he turns away and grabs Brad from the fake Kai.

The fake Zane grabs my arms tightly, ignoring Spitfire's furious hissing. "If you try anything, princess, I'll extinguish you," he mutters darkly into my ear, a far cry from the white ninja I know as my friend.

"Go ahead and try," I spit back, biting a scream as he twists my shoulder and forces me to move. I comply, muttering a stream of furious curses that makes the fake Cole chuckle.

_You better be alright_ I grit my teeth as we make our way to where the ninja are being held. _You had all better be alright_.

* * *

We arrive at a posh-looking room filled with books and overstuffed chairs, but no ninja. The clones shift furious glares on Brad as they realize they've been duped.

"What is this, some kind of joke?" the fake Cole growls.

"That's where they were, honest!" Brad cries from under his arm. He stopped struggling ages ago, instead muttering half-reassuring things to himself as we were led here. I'd tried to slip free of the fake Zane's grasp, even tried to light his hands on fire, but he'd only twisted my shoulder until my will gave way to agony.

The fake Cole glowers at his tiny prisoner. "Time for another noogie."

"No, no, anything but that!"

A door squeals open behind us, shattering the stillness as we turn to see familiar shapes emerging from a locker. I start to shout a warning at the real ninja as they pool into the hall, but Zane's clone twists my arm violently and the sound dies in my throat, turning instead into a mangled moan.

"Finally, a way out," Cole lets out a sigh of relief as he enters the hallway behind Jay. Kai emerges soon after him, followed by Zane. The four of them are bedraggled, looking like they've been through hell. They look up just as the fake ninja move to mirror their originals. The fake Zane shoves me to Cole's clone, who grabs my throbbing shoulder and clenches his fingers tightly against my stitches. I struggle against his excruciating grip, but it's like iron.

"Guys, why are we staring at ourselves?" Kai asks as he faces us.

"Ash?" Cole's eyes widen.

"Uh, this is kind of too weird for us," an older man, who I assume is a teacher, mumbles from the locker. "We're gonna stay in here." He slams the locker door shut.

"Huh, those who don't fight teach," Jay shakes his head. The fake ninja tug off their sunglasses, revealing the glowing red eyes that stir with malicious power.

Cole's stance turns threatening. "Drop the boy and let her go, uh… me!"

The fake Cole drops Brad, who lands on the floor with a yelp before scrambling away. "He's of no use to us, anymore," he smirks. "But the princess…" His hand grasps my face, and I struggle against his grip with a splutter of fire that does nothing more than make him chuckle. He turns his blazing eyes on the real Cole. "Well, I'm sure you know. She has a number of uses."

"Who are you guys?" Kai demands as Cole's voice drops to a threatening growl.

"Your doom," the fake Kai answers with a grin.

"My early assessment tells me this must be Garmadon's doing," Zane says.

"_My_ early assessment tells me you will be destroyed," his clone growls back.

The ninja surge forward, but the fake Cole stops them with a tighter grip on my face.

"Not so fast," he chuckles. "It'd be a shame to ruin the princess' lovely face, wouldn't it?" He turns my head roughly toward his. "Especially before I've had the chance to enjoy it."

Cole's hands clench tightly at his sides. "You bastard-!"

"You forget who I was before I was a princess," I choke out, struggling to speak through the clone's vice grip. He lets out a low chuckle that sparks a dark fury deep inside my core. "I was an assassin, and I was hired to destroy you."

I slam my heel as hard as I can into the fake Cole's foot, grinning as he recoils with an agonized shout. I lunge forward before the other clones can react, rushing toward the real ninja who stand ready to welcome me back.

"Way to give them hell, Ash," Cole grins into my ear as he catches me in a warm hug. His familiar, woodsy scent washes over me like a comforting blanket, and I make the point never to forget it again. He pulls away as seriousness clouds his expression. "You have to find Lloyd and get out of here. The ceremony was a trap so the students could try and convert him back to evil. You have to find them before they undo everything we've worked for." He glares back at the clones. "We'll take care of this."

"Leave something for me," I nod quickly before I start down the hall, followed by the explosion of fighting as the ninja clash with their doppelgangers. I turn the corner and the fight disappears behind me.

* * *

I peer from under a desk at Lloyd, who sits tied to a chair as a dozen other boys stare down at him. It had been easy sneaking into the room without them noticing- all their attention was fixed on their white-blond prisoner. But how to get him out?

"I am Lloyd Garmadon, evil son of the super evil Lord Garmadon, and I demand you release me!" Lloyd shouts before forcing out an evil laugh. The other boys turn away from him, and I huddle closer beneath the desk, happy for the shadows and my dark clothes.

"Here's my theory on how to help the evil ninja destroy the good ninja," a boy with a wheedly voice (Jean, I think they mentioned) declares as he climbs up to the chalkboard and scribbles something in a cloud of chalk dust. "Look what happens when positive energy connects with negative energy." He draws a complicated diagram of two forces clashing together. Me and the other students squint at his sloppy handwriting, but I manage to make out the equalizing force between them. "So, if an evil ninja manages to land a single blow against his opposite, that same spark shall be so powerful as to eradicate the good ninja." Jean turns to his audience with a grin. "Trust me. I'm like, an evil genius."

My stomach drops. If they land a hit, the real ninja will be destroyed?

"Okay, good enough for me!" Brad shrugs from the front of the group.

"Alright!" Lloyd grimaces from the back of the room, diverting the boys' attention back to him. "You win. I'm good. But guess what?" His hazel eyes focus on their leader. "So's Brad!"

Brad shakes his head wildly as the others turn to him in shock and disbelief. "Th-that's a lie!"

"Is it?" Lloyd raises an eyebrow. When did he get so snarky? "Then explain why on the day we first met, you were nice to me. When I arrived here on my first day, I didn't know how things worked around here and everyone made fun of me. Brad even put fire ants in my bed."

Jean laughs as he approaches the group. "I remember that," he chuckles. "That was evil."

"But when everyone was gone, he said he was just trying to teach me how things go," Lloyd explains, "and after that, he took me under his wing and taught me the art of revenge."

Jean squints at Brad. "Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to get in good with his father," Brad answers with a nervous quirk of his lips.

"No," Lloyd shakes his head as he stands awkwardly, still tied to the chair. "It's because deep down, he's not all evil. And Brad's not the only one. Face it. All of you have a secret good side that stays quiet out of fear because it thinks it's alone. But it's not. And I'm living proof.

"So," Lloyd continues. "Who's with me?"

"It's true," Brad finally admits with a sigh, "and I love planting flowers."

"You what?!" Jean gasps.

"Also, the ninja saved my life," Brad says as he walks behind Lloyd and unties him. "A kindness I plan to return."

The other boys begin to gather around Lloyd, and finally the "evil genius" lets out a breath.

"My dad is going to be so mad," he shakes his head.

"Yeah, join the club," Lloyd laughs. "Now then, I have a plan. Who here can sew?"

"Sew?"

"I can," I say as I emerge from my hiding spot. The boys gasp in shock.

"A girl?!"

"Ash!" Lloyd rushes forward to give me a hug I gladly return through the throbbing in my shoulder.

"Just tell me what you need sewn," I smile at him. "I did a lot of patching up when I was living on my own. Anything you need, I can do."

"Wait, that's Ash?" Brad walks toward me with wide eyes. "Your dad was Desmond Vizier?"

The name sends a shiver down my spine, and I carefully swallow the discomfort. "He was my adopted father," I nod. "So I get you kids. The ninja are my friends, too, and they need our help. Help Lloyd and I save them and you'll see why being good is just as fun as being bad."

* * *

We emerge into the hallway as the fighting gradually slows. The real ninja are battered and exhausted, more so than their doppelgangers. If what Jean said was true and one of them manages to land a blow… I force the dark thought aside and pull my hood over my face, finding a bit of comfort in the dark cloth that slides softly against my skin. The thick padding on my shoulders shifts comfortably, protecting my throbbing wound and making me look as full-figured as the original Cole as I run just behind Lloyd and toward the fray.

The fighting stalls as we approach.

"Hey, it really is ninja day," Cole says.

"I see what they're doing," Kai struggles for breath, his chest heaving. "They're trying to confuse them!"

"Yeah, but it's confusing me too!" Jay looks around him wildly, both him and the fake Jay distracted by the sudden rush of colorful shapes.

The boys rush at the fake Zane, who shoves them off him angrily as he struggles to face them all at once.

"Keep your focus," Zane says to the fallen boys before he swirls into a tornado of ice and traps the fake Zane, slamming him into a wall where he disintegrates into dust.

"It works just as Jean says!" Lloyd shouts over the fight. "If you can land a punch, they'll be defeated!"

"Good," I mutter, my voice muffled by the hood over my face. I fall into step next to Cole, who gives me a smile.

"Nice outfit," he ducks a wild punch from his clone.

"Thanks," I smile back, catching another fist against my arm before it can hit Cole. I give his clone a glare.

"That's an impressive look for you, doll-face," the fake Cole's eyes graze down my body with nauseating slowness. "You should wear it more often."

"Maybe, but not around you," I slam a kick into the center of his chest, throwing him against the lockers where he's shoved back by a hidden mini Zane and into Cole's path.

"Good riddance!" Cole shouts as he lands a punch against the fake, turning him to silver dust. A relieved breath shudders from his chest. "I was getting sick of him."

"Ditto," I smirk down at the clone's remnants.

"Don't think you can get rid of us that easily," the fake Jay hisses nearby as he faces the real blue ninja. He grins. "By the way, did I mention that I kissed Nya?"

My jaw drops. Well, that explains how they got the Ultrasonic Raider without a test drive.

"What?!" Jay screeches. "You did what?!"

Jay flips over his doppelganger's head before slamming his foot into his back with a satisfying burst of black dust. "Nobody kisses my girl!" he growls.

Cole turns to me with wide eyes. "I- well, the fake didn't…"

I shake my head. "No. I crushed his face underfoot before he got to that."

The last fake ninja, Kai's, tries to run off but he's stopped with a smoke bomb to the face.

"No, my eyes!" he yells, staggering back as he claws at his face. Kai approaches him, turning his fake around to watch as he punches him hard enough to send him careening into the wall and into an explosion of dust.

"He ain't so bad," Kai chuckles as the boys break into a chorus of cheers.

"Lloyd, you did it!" Brad grins as he takes off his hood.

"No, we did it!" Lloyd says to even more cheers.

I laugh and smile as the kid celebrates with his friends, pulling off my hood to smooth my wild hair. I glance at the real Cole beside me. "I'm glad that's over. I never thought how therapeutic taking down a few smart-mouthed clones could be."

"I hear you," he chuckles as he tugs off his own hood. His eyes fall to my shoulder. "You feeling better?"

"Much," I nod. "Granted, getting slapped around didn't help, but I think I'll be good as new in the next couple of days."

"Good. So, uh, how did you know those were fakes?" he asks. "When we were fighting, even I couldn't tell if I was the real me."

I bite my lip as heat swells in my face. "Well, uh…" I cough. "He was a little more… suggestive than you are."

His dark eyebrows arch up, and I take another deep breath. "But I didn't really put two and two together until he said the name of the school wrong."

He chuckles a little. "So let me get this straight, he said a few evocative things to you and you didn't-"

I smack him in the arm. "Like you would be any different."

"I don't know, if you started coming on to me one day, I'd be a little suspicious-"

"Let's not talk about it, alright?" I give him a pointed look. "Ever again."

"I don't know, it is pretty funny-"

My expression doesn't change, and he lets out a laugh. "Alright, alright," he shakes his head. "Well, there is one thing that clone and I have in common."

I raise an eyebrow. "Your obnoxious personality?"

He lowers his face to my ear. "I think you look good in black."

My face flames as a locker door creaks open down the hall, revealing a group of bedraggled teachers. They approach us carefully, and the boys grow quiet.

The principal closes on us first, staring at the boys with a careful patience. He takes a deep breath, then lets it go. "Normally, we'd punish you for holding us captive, but I guess now that we've all learned a valuable lesson, I suppose it's cause for a celebration."

Cole lets go of me and pushes to the front of the group. "That wouldn't mean cake, would it?"

"Cole!"

"What?" he shrugs back at me. "It's an honest question."

"I'm sure we can pull something together," the principal looks back at his teachers. "We were preparing to celebrate the school's anniversary next week, but I don't think it would be a problem-"

"Take as much time as you need," I give Cole a pointed look. "We can wait."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, fine," his mischievous spark returns. "It'll give us some extra time to… _relax_." He winks.

I shove him hard enough to make the boys laugh. "We agreed never to speak of that again."

"I made no promises."

"About what?" Lloyd asks, and Kai stifles a snort.

"You'll find out when you're older," the red ninja shakes his head as his gaze flicks back to me and Cole. "Let's just- ah- cool it until we're not in a school, alright?"

I roll my eyes. "He started it."

"Technically my clone started it-"

"So that celebration," Zane steps forward, and I mouth him a thank you. "We should get to work on that. I know my way around a kitchen and am more than willing to offer assistance."

"Thank you," the principal nods. "Just- ah- no more incidents while we're out, alright?"

"I think we'll be fine," Jay answers. He reaches for his nunchucks, only to find they're missing. "Hey, where'd my-"

A bolt of lightning explodes from nearby, zapping over our heads and blasting open a hole in the wall. Brad drops the nunchucks with a nervous smile.

"Uh, oops?"

"Alright, ninja day is over, kids," Kai picks up the fallen weapons and hands them back to the blue ninja, who offers Brad a less-than-adult tongue out of his mouth. "Let's clean up and, uh, leave the weapons to the professionals, alright?"

"I'm not sure I want to get out of this yet," I whisper to Cole. "This is surprisingly comfortable for being scrapped together in less than ten minutes."

His gaze flicks down my legs. "It looks good," he glances at his own outfit. "How much did Sensei pay for these again? Maybe you should make our outfits from now on."

I snort softly. "What, and be stuck sewing all the time? No thank you," I tug off my gloves to show him my blood-speckled hands. "I think I stabbed myself one too many times to make that a career option."

He chuckles. "Yeah, maybe you should stick to fighting and stabbing our enemies instead of yourself."

I hit him again. "Watch yourself, Cole, another insensitive comment and I might just stab you instead."

He grins. "Forceful. I knew there was a reason I dated you."

"Cole!"

"Just saying, I've always had a thing for girls with a bit of… dominance," he winks and I feel my face burn.

"You know what, I'm going to go take this off now," I start to stalk away. "And I better not hear another word from you."

"That's alright, I can communicate in other ways-"

"Gah!"

Cole lets out a hoot of laughter as I finally clear the hall and head for the bathroom, my face screaming with everything except fire.


	6. Shadow on the Horizon

_Sorry for such a short chapter :/ I got really sick this weekend and I have a major earache as I type this, so yeah. It's a struggle. Anyway, I'm working hard to try and finish editing the next chapter by Thursday, but I might end up chopping it into smaller, more manageable pieces. Which sucks, since I really really really wanted to do it all in one go. *sigh* Well, let me know what you think of this and my other chapters, as it gives me hope that someone out there is reading and enjoying, and I'll try to get back on my feet in the next day or so. _

_And for reals, any and all ideas are totally welcome. I'm trying to come up with some on my own, but it would be extremely fun if someone threw an idea my way. But that might just be the medication talking :P_

_Anyway, thanks for reading_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, letting everything go with a sigh. A strong wind whistles past my ears, throwing my hair wildly behind me before it suddenly stops and I open my eyes to the throne room of my ancestor's fortress.

The dark stone is cold beneath my crossed legs, and goosebumps prickle the skin of my arms. The air smells _sharp_ in the way only cold can, and my breath fogs with each exhale.

Stella floats in the air before me, her gold outline highlighted by the candlelight behind her. She looks older than she usually does, more my age than the ten-year-old she's shown me before.

"Hello, Iris," she greets me with a soft smile. "Is your shoulder healed now?"

"Yes," I answer, rolling my shoulder to demonstrate. "Your exercises helped me a lot. Thanks."

"Good."

"So what's going on with you?" I ask. "You're usually not this old. Or serious."

"I'm only reflecting your growth, Iris," she smiles. "You're finally ready to take the next step of learning your power. You're ready to train with Whim."

"Whim?" I blink. I'd heard the name before. Whim was the last true king of Ninjago, ruling for years before he gave his power to the citizens and settled in the forest to guide them from the shadows. I've never seen him, much less talked to him, though Stella says his name with unmistakable reverence.

She nods again. "There are few things on this planet I know little about, and even fewer things my children know more of than me," she chuckles a little. "I've never heard the end of it, and for existing nearly ten thousand years, that's saying a lot."

"Whim knows something you don't?"

She pauses for a second. "Well, not entirely," she purses her lips slightly. "As you know, every ruler of Ninjago is born with an elemental power, a gift which we use to guide our people. When we are ready, this power takes the shape of our familiar."

I nod. "And that's when we truly become rulers. I've heard this before."

"Yes, that is when _most_ of our journeys end."

"Most?"

"Not all of us are born equal, Iris. You hold a higher power that very few of us will ever experience," her smile grows wistful, and slightly pained. "When I first forged our contract with the first Spinjitsu Master, he gave me and all my descendants the power to shape Ninjago, to guide it on the right path. But he also gave us the power to change it. Your familiar is the symbol of the first Spinjitsu Master, and so some of his power dwells in you, power that is even beyond my teachings as the first ruler of Ninjago. Only another blessed with this power can see you to your full potential."

"So Whim's familiar is a dragon too? Who else is there?"

Her golden gaze drops, and her outline fades. I regret asking. "You are the last," she answers. "First was my daughter, Ria, then Oberon, then Whim. A dragon is an elemental in its purest form, and only appears whenever Ninjago is in desperate need of a champion, of a strong, guiding hand. You are the Queen of Fire, Iris, the last in a cycle of wind, earth, and water. With Garmadon's reawakening, I fear that Ninjago will be in great need of a hero. Especially to train the new Spinjitsu Master."

A hero? I'd never thought of myself as a queen, let alone a champion of good. It's a lot to take in, especially so suddenly. But if what Stella says is true…

"I understand this is… sudden," she lets out a breath. "But you and the young ninja are growing exponentially. We do not have much time before…"

"Before what?"

She shakes her head. "I am sorry, now is not the time to burden you with such heavy thoughts."

I shake my head. "No, this is important. If Ninjago needs me…" I sit up a little straighter. "Then I better finish my training. When can I start?"

"I will speak to Whim. For now, you can take a break," Stella smiles, any sense of anxiety suddenly whipped away as I blink and realize she's transformed into the little girl I've always seen. "You should be with your friends. Forget about destiny and fulfillment for once."

I return her smile with another shake of my head. "I don't think Garmadon will ever let us forget for long. And now with what you've said-"

"Don't worry, Iris," her hand brushes against my face like a warm, citrus-scented breeze. Her smile is equally warm. "We will cross that bridge when we reach it. Rest."

Her hand touches my face again and I feel my consciousness slip, like falling asleep in reverse.

I blink open my eyes just as an explosion rocks the dojo.


	7. Ninjaball Run

_Hello again :) Here is the much longer chapter I promised. It was easier to type out now that I'm feeling better, and I hope you enjoy it! I'm thinking of including some... extra chapters in this, the next being one of them. Let me know what you think :) _

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

Plaster rains down on my head in a scatter of dust and ceiling that I disperse with a shake of my head. The floor rumbles beneath me as I scramble to my feet, catching my balance against the rattling wall.

"That was a good break," I grimace to Spitfire as something crashes in the hall, sending another shower of drywall and molding clattering on my head. Someone shouts from the training room. "Shit, _Lloyd_."

"What was that?" Cole's voice comes from the training room as I approach at a run. He sounds dazed, but unhurt. I just blast through the screen of beads when I'm smacked with a massive cloud of swirling, choking dust. My lungs heave and convulse as I struggle to breathe in the congested room, but thankfully the dust settles quickly and I manage to clear my lungs. That's when I notice the gaping hole in the wall.

"What the hell?" I cough as I approach it. I glance around at the sprawled ninja around me. "Is everyone alright?"

"I think I bruised my elbow," Jay moans as he emerges from a pile of shattered plaster.

"Where's Lloyd?"

"Here!" the small ninja scrambles from beneath a cloud of dust. I let out a breath of relief.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dareth shoves past me from behind, spurring me forward as he runs toward the destroyed wall. "This wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow!"

I approach the wall as the ninja get to their feet around me, brushing dust and debris from their clothes.

"Tomorrow?" a voice asks, and I notice a construction worker and foreman standing just outside the jagged hole. A gleaming wrecking ball looms behind them. "Let me see that order."

The construction worker hands the foreman an official looking piece of paper, which he scans quickly. "Oh yeah, my bad," he lets out a little laugh. "Sorry about that. We'll be back in the morning."

They turn and walk away cheerfully, seemingly unaware of the devastated sensei they've left behind. Dareth lets out a whimper as he picks a mutilated trophy from the floor.

"Uh, Dareth?" Cole asks, his dark hair choked with white dust. I reach out and brush a bit from his shoulder. "What is this all about?"

The sensei grimaces. "Well, I fell behind on some of my payments and some developer named Darnagom Enterprises is buying the entire block to put in some stupid Frisbee golf course," he lets out a depressed sigh. "They say if I don't come up with $50,000 by tomorrow, the dojo is gone."

"But we already lost the Bounty!" Jay cries. "We can't lose the dojo now!"

"Dareth, how did you get $50,000 in debt?" I ask. "I mean, no offense, but this place isn't exactly a palace. Where did you spend $50,000?"

He holds up his trophy. "They're solid gold," he whimpers before hugging them to his chest. "My trophies, oh, my fake trophies!" He bursts into tears and I offer him an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"Wait a minute," Zane holds up a hand as he peers closely at the sign on the wrecking ball. "Dar-na-gom? Rearrange the letters and you get…"

"O Grandma?"

"No!" Kai hits Jay with a glare. "_Garmadon_!"

"Right," Jay chuckles nervously. "That would make more sense."

"My dad is behind this?" Lloyd grimaces. I shake a mountain of dust from his hair, but can't think of any words to offer. He shrugs me off.

"If he destroys the dojo, where will we train Lloyd?" Cole turns to Sensei Wu.

"Hey, you're a princess, aren't you?" Dareth looks at me with watery eyes. "Can't you order someone to bring you $50,000? Or maybe you can just buy back the block?"

I shake my head. "I'm royalty in name only."

"Worry not, Dareth, you are not in this alone," Sensei steps forward, holding his tea now healthily seasoned with bits of broken plaster. "We're all with you."

"Did someone say 50,000-?"

Jay interrupts Nya with a gasp as she walks in, grimacing at the decimated dojo. "You didn't happen to win the lottery?"

"No," Nya shakes her head with an amused laugh. "But I heard about Ninjaball Run."

"Ninjaball Run?"

"It's the biggest road race in Ninjago with a price of 100,000 big ones!" she announces. "_And_ it's tomorrow!"

"Convenient," Kai nods.

"I thank you, little lady fighter," Dareth sniffles as he moves a loose curl from his forehead. "But you're talking about the most dangerous race known to man. Only the most serious of racers even stand a chance."

"But didn't you just do a few upgrades on the Ultrasonic Raider?" Kai asks Nya, and she nods. "Maybe we might stand a chance."

"And I can enter with my dragon," Lloyd nods excitedly. Cole gives him an uneasy look that he returns with his own. "You did say I needed practice."

"Hey, if flying counts," I shrug and ruffle Lloyd's hair a little, dispersing a cloud of drywall. "Now that my shoulder's healed, I think I'm up for a little heavier movement."

"So it is agreed," Sensei says. "You will all enter Ninjaball Run to save the dojo."

Dareth lets out a shuddered breath and wipes at his tear-streamed eyes.

"Are you still crying?" Nya asks him with a comforting smile.

"Yes," Dareth admits. "But these are happy tears. With all of you racing, one of you is bound to make it across the finish line."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jay rolls his eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Dareth," I touch his forearm gently. "We'll win this race."

"I believe you, princess," he sniffles. "I believe you."

* * *

"Ash, wait."

I turn at the sound of my name over the roar of the audience, shifting my focus from the herd of racers beside me to the familiar face approaching.

"Oh, hello, Hale," I greet the archer. He's dressed as usual, wearing a loose gray t-shirt and faded jeans smeared with old stains (more than likely from the workshop he crafts in) and his hair is tousled like he just woke up. He looks more or less the same as the last time we spoke, but now he holds a long rectangular box under one arm.

I offer him a grimace. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry I haven't been around the shop lately."

"It's alright," he shrugs and offers a soft smile. "I heard what you and the ninja were doing. Saving Dareth's old dojo? It's pretty… inspirational."

"I wouldn't call it inspirational," I laugh. "It was really spur of the moment and self-motivated."

"Well, it inspired me to help you guys out somehow, so I decided to give you this," he holds the box out to me.

I take it and gently shake it, but nothing rattles inside. "Hale, what is it?" I ask. "You know I don't use weapons anymore."

"I know," his smile broadens. A childish excitement sparks in his grey eyes. "That's why I made you something useful. Open it."

"Alright," I gripe playfully. "If you insist."

I pull the top off the box easily and tuck it under my arm. The box is filled with plain white packaging paper, and as I move it aside my smile disappears.

I look up at Hale in absolute disbelief. "How did you-?"

He laughs at my expression. "I knew you'd like it," he grins. "Go on, take it out. I need to see if I got your measurements right."

I put the box on the ground and I carefully lift the shimmering black suit from its wrappings. It's sleek and looks like it's been woven out of thousands of obsidian scales that catch the light and distort its outline. The top part is split diagonally near the bottom, revealing a crimson, softer underside that burns bright against the black, and a scarlet slash runs from the collar to what would be my sternum. The bottom half is pure black and tapers at the ankles.

"There's more in the box," Hale nods at my feet. I glance back at the box and notice a pair of his best, soft-soled leather boots. I'd noticed them in the store before, they were ridiculously expensive as is, but now that they've been customized with the same scaled pattern as the suit…

I shake my head in awe. "Hale, I-I don't know what to say," I rub the fabric between my fingers, marveling at the snake-like softness to it. "This is just… amazing."

"The material resembles dragon skin, at least that's what the book said," he mumbles the last half more to himself, "and it's extremely durable, insulated, and completely fireproof. Sensei Wu told me what happened to your shoulder-"

"You talked to Sensei?"

He shrugs. "I have some teas in the shop I like to share with certain customers, but that's not the point," he shakes his head. "An injury like that won't happen while you're wearing this. The scales will spread the blow across the entire suit and minimize the damage. The only way you're getting hurt is if someone manages to stab you right between the scales."

He grimaces slightly. "I started to make this suit after… after I found you in the woods, to keep you safe. But after everything that happened, well… I never found a chance to give it to you."

"Hale, this is beyond anything I could ever have imagined," I shake my head. "I don't even know how I can begin to pay you back-"

"Don't worry about it," he waves the thought away. "It's a gift."

I give him a smile. "Well, thank you. This will really help me out. Especially today."

"Thanks," he smiles back. "Your praise means a lot to me, Iris. I mean, Ash."

I falter. "You still call me that?"

He grimaces. "It's who I remember you as," he lets out a sigh. "Then again, you're kind of different than the girl I remember from the village, and Desmond changed you much more than he changed me."

I grasp at his arm without thinking. "Desmond changed both of us drastically, Hale. I just managed to run away."

Hale's eyes soften on mine as he relaxes under my touch, sparking with something I can't explain as a new voice enters our conversation.

"Hale? What are you doing here?"

Hale's expression darkens dramatically as Cole approaches. I take my arm away and glance toward the others. They're making final adjustments to the Ultrasonic Raider under Nya's guidance and seem completely unaware of the bitter argument that's about to ensue.

"Just dropping by to watch the race," Hale answers carefully, his eyes never moving from Cole's. "I do every year."

"He made me a suit," I hold it up for Cole to scrutinize. "It'll keep me from getting hurt again."

Cole moves his eyes from Hale and notices the suit in my hands for the first time. He glances at the other guy before pulling me aside a few inches.

"So what's the catch?"

"Catch? Cole, do you see this?" I hold the suit up higher. "It's absolutely amazing."

"Right. What if he's just telling you it's amazing so you'll take more risks?" his voice rises a few decibels. "What if he's trying to get you hurt?"

I give him a pointed look. "He wouldn't hurt me."

"Really? Cause he seemed perfectly capable of shooting arrows at your face-"

"Cole, I told you already, Hale's changed," my eyes bore into his. "Desmond warped his mind just as much as he warped mine. He _saved_ Lloyd when he could have let him get kidnapped by snakes. Sensei has conversations with him over tea!"

"Sensei also trusted Garmadon before he stole our weapons and sailed off without us," Cole hisses back. "I'm just telling you to be careful around Hale. Something's really off about that guy."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Cole, are you angry she's actually beginning to trust me?" Hale's gray eyes cloud with hostility.

"Back off, Hale," Cole growls. "Your good-guy act might convince the others, but you're going to have to do more than play hero to convince me."

"Is that what this is about?" Hale snorts. "You're jealous I can protect her more than you can?"

Cole fists clench tightly at his sides. "I'll never be jealous of you," he snarls. "Just like I'll never trust you."

"What will it take, Cole?" Hale stalks a bit closer. "Do you want me to just walk away? Say you're the winner and leave? Because I never will. Our little contest might not have been serious, but the wager sure was. I will fight you so long as I have a chance of redeeming myself to her."

Cole's jaw clenches at the mention of the game they played so many months ago, with the chance to date me as the reward. The memory pisses me off too, but for an entirely different reason.

"You've done more damage than you could ever fix," Cole hisses. "Not with all the gifts and nice words in the world."

"My suit will protect her much more than your dragon bracelet ever will."

"You helped your dad try to kill her."

"I've known her since childhood."

Cole snorts. "Funny, cause I'm her boyfriend."

Something sinister sparks around Hale's clenched hand, and I finally can't hold back anymore.

"That's it, from both of you," I growl. "I don't care what either of you thinks about the other, but I want it to stop Now. I'm going to go put this suit on and when I come back the two of you had better be such good friends you're finishing each other's sentences and wearing matching outfits, understand?"

Neither of them tear their gaze away from the other when I'm finished, and even when I pick up the box and start to move away they stay tense, frozen like statues.

"Men," I grumble under my breath as I head toward the bathrooms.

* * *

The suit is sleek and soft against my skin, molding comfortably to my shape without being vacuum-sealed to my body. I look at myself in the bathroom mirror, noting with a small smile how intimidatingly red my eyes blaze against the black and crimson.

I start tugging my hair into a ponytail, then pause as my thumb brushes against something at the bottom of my neck- a thin, long slit just below the collar. Curious, I drop my hair and reach into the slit, feeling softer material against my fingers. I tug on it and the fabric falls out in two connected pieces, one crimson, one black. I stare at it curiously for a few seconds before I realize it's a hood and mask. Like the ninja's, but sleeker.

I pull it on carefully, smelling Hale's lofty scent as I pull the crimson part over my face. It melts seamlessly down my neck into the red slash on my top, while the black side curves down the back of my head and blends perfectly with the rest of the outfit. I can't hold back a breath of admiration at Hale's perfect handiwork.

The announcers' voices drone from the outside, declaring a five-minute warning. I make one last attempt to try and stuff my hair into my hood, but the thick strands just tumble back into my face as I leave the bathroom and head back to the racetrack.

"Welcome, everyone, to the 14th Annual Ninjaball Run!" an announcer chimes over the speakers.

"The grand prix where it doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there first," the second announcer adds.

A thousand eyes follow me as I make my way along the edge of the racetrack and toward the starting line. My stomach flops at the thought of so many people watching, and I struggle to force the feeling aside and concentrate on the task at hand.

"Well, let's take a look at the racers," the first announcer says.

"I see the starter's line," the second announcer says excitedly. "We have a few familiar faces…"

Lloyd lands the Ultra Dragon with a slam as I step into my spot beside him, wincing a little as the mailman next to him falls off his bike with a, "Watch it, you big oaf!"

"We also see some new ones," the first announcer continues. "There are the famed ninja and, who's this? The Queen of Ninjago?"

The butterflies in my stomach do backflips through a ring of fireworks.

"With a wonderful new outfit, too," the second announcer adds. "Technically, she has no vehicle, but here at Ninjaball Run, whatever wins the cup is good enough!"

"You look nervous, Lloyd, you okay?" Cole asks from the other side of Ultra Dragon as I try to calm my quivering hands.

"Maybe for you guys," Lloyd chuckles. "I'm totally fine."

"Are _you_ alright, Ash?" Zane's voice pulls me out of my slight hysteria.

"Yeah," I shake my head as I step out from behind the dragon to face them. "I'm fine. Just- uh- a little jittery."

"Wow, so that's the outfit Hale made you?" Kai looks up from fixing a tread. He shoves a few fallen strands of auburn hair from his forehead. "How'd he get your measurements?"

Cole's eyes narrow and I roll mine. "Seriously, he lived with my father for a few years. All he had to do was ask."

"I think it looks cool," Jay shuffles closer to inspect my suit. He pinches my sleeve and Spitfire whirls, shining bright red beneath the slightly translucent material. "This must be scalatian silk. It's extremely rare, but super-durable and-"

"Completely fireproof," I finish. I give him a cheeky smile. "My favorite part's the hood."

"Yeah, you look like a real ninja now," Kai grins.

I shake my head as I pull down the mask. "Not a ninja. An assassin, remember? Even if it was a one-time-only deal."

"Now one final thing," Nya jumps down from the Ultrasonic Raider, ending the conversation. "I installed a pretty cool upgrade, so if you're ever in a really tight spot, pull that lever. What it does is-"

The roar of an engine completely drowns out Nya as I catch a blur of gray among the bright colors of the audience. I look up and notice Hale taking the seat beside Sensei Wu, who greets him with polite nod. Hale notices my gaze and smiles back, offering a small wave before the announcers bring my attention back to the race.

"Alright, the race is about to start and officials are saying pit crews must take their places! We're about to begin!"

A truck pulls up in a chorus of sonorous voices, and Cole's face brightens with a smile.

"Look, it's my dad," he points out, giving me a sideways glance that makes me smile. It's been a while since Cole confessed to his father, and seeing their relationship recover so well is comforting.

Another car pulls up in a wild squeal of tires, blocking Cole's dad and pulling a loud groan from Jay's lips.

"Oh, no."

"Jay, Jay!" his mother waves frantically from the passenger side of the car before turning to her husband. "Oh, look, he sees us, Ed."

"I see, Edna, you don't have to embarrass the boy," Jay's father chuckles from behind the wheel.

"Ugh, is there anyone we _don't_ have to compete against?" Jay gripes just as a massive dark portal appears from nowhere and a giant skeleton truck crashes onto the race track. Everyone gasps.

"Wait a minute; it appears some skeletons have crashed the party!" the second announcer comments. "Is this against the rules?"

"Rules?" the first announcer snorts. "There's only one rule in Ninjaball Run, and that's cross the finish line first! Let's take a look at the course!"

The crowd and racers look up at the pillar of screens that descends above the racetrack as the announcer outlines the course.

"The first grueling leg starts out on the streets of Ninjago City and empties out into the treacherous Sea of Sand. Racers, look out for the dangerous trade-away known as Crash Course Canyon where the slightest mistake can be your last!" he says dramatically. "The next two legs of the race take us into the winding maze known as the Birchwood Forest! Then through the perilous and icy Glacier Barrens! Finally, in the fourth and final leg, racers must beat the desert heat in the Badlands, which then takes us back to the finish line here at the heart of Ninjago City!"

"Looks like this is it," Kai mutters. His voice quavers with the slightest trace of nerves, but his eyes are determined and intense.

"Feel free to land with us or Lloyd if you need to recharge, okay?" Cole's gaze flicks to the archer in the crowd. He lowers his voice as if Hale might hear. "Are you sure you trust Hale's word on this?"

I nod. "You heard what Jay said about it," I reassure him. "I'll be fine. The only thing you should be worried about is that $100,000 cash prize."

He doesn't look entirely convinced, but doesn't say anything. Instead, he gives me a hug that lasts a few seconds longer than usual before climbing into the Ultrasonic Raider. Lloyd throws me a thumbs up as I make my way back to my spot under his dragon's wing. Spitfire swirls expectantly under my sleeve.

"One final word," the first announcer adds suddenly. "Let's have a good clean race!"

"I thought there were no rules," Lloyd chuckles down to me, and I laugh.

"So good luck to everyone!" the first announcer finishes as the overhead screen flashes with a red light.

Lloyd clenches the reins tightly in his hands as the other racers rev their engines and inch a little closer to the starting line. I pull the mask back over my face and take a calming breath, smelling the traces of Hale's scent still infused in the fabric.

The light flashes to yellow.

"On your mark…" the first announcer counts down. "Get set…"

Cole is wrong about Hale, I know it. So much time trying so hard to redeem himself to me… It can't be a lie, can it?

The light changes to green as the announcer shouts, "Ninjaball, go!"

My thoughts explode away from my mind as I sputter forward in a cloud of flames. Lloyd calls to his dragon and it lurches into the air behind me with a roar. I wait for the telltale sound of the Ultrasonic Raider surging forward after us and the other racers, but instead there's an explosive crash. I glance over my shoulder long enough to see the Raider's tread rip itself apart, allowing the other racers to scream past it in clouds of smoke. I hesitate, caught between helping them and going after Lloyd, but I catch Sensei's eyes in the crowd and he waves me forward. I swallow my hesitation and keep going.

I fly just above the middle floor of the high-rises that surround us, following the tip of the Ultra Dragon's tail as I try to conserve my energy. It wouldn't be good to sputter out during the first leg. But then Lloyd veers off in an entirely different direction, turning away from the course and out to another part of the city.

"Lloyd?"

"Go on without me!" he shouts as he gets farther and farther off track. "I'll catch up!"

I stifle a hopeless grimace. Less than five minutes into the race and I've already lost my backup. Even if they somehow manage to catch up, I'll probably be out of fire by then. At this rate, we'll be lucky to even place.

I struggle to force my doubts aside and focus back the race.

I keep pace easily with the mid-level racers, conserving as much energy as I can. Without the ninja or Lloyd, I'm going to need to be careful about how much power I'm using.

The section of building beside me suddenly explodes in my face, nearly knocking me out of the sky as I'm thrown into an opposing street sign. I blink to recover from the smack of splintered wood and stone to my face and glance downward to notice a van of familiar pirates armed with a small cannon.

"We meet again, Queen of Ninjago!" the captain shouts up at me, brandishing his sword. I scowl back. "Do you like our fireworks?"

"I'll show you fireworks," I hiss as an orb of flames scorches around my hand. I send it streaking toward them in a hiss of fire, but another bus appears out of nowhere and deflects it into another building. It takes me a few seconds to process it, but then I recognize the green-tailed bus of snakes. A growl dies in my throat. As much as I'd love to knock them and the pirates into an alley, I have to conserve my firepower. I force myself to drop my arms and streak forward, blazing ahead until I'm almost in line with the lead: Jay's parents. A pleasant surprise given how ancient their car looks.

The race empties into the desert and I rise in a disturbing spatter of fire. As the other racers fan out beneath me, I focus on the outline of the canyon ahead. Maybe I can land there long enough to recharge without putting myself too far behind…

Below me, Jay's parents release the inflated canvas balloons on their tires, sending them bouncing into the other racers. The pirates are hit straight on, tumbling end over end into the sand where they come to an explosive stop. The captain lets out a furious roar and I can't hold back a snicker as I enter the canyon.

I just cross into the shadow of the cliff when my fire sizzles in a hiss of smoke and I realize with a cartoonish expression that I'm all out of power.

I drop, a wild scream tearing away from my lips as I plummet toward the unforgiving rock face blow.

I land on something hard, jarring my entire right side as my shoulder hits, but surprisingly there's no bolt of pain. I open my eyes and find myself completely undamaged and riding on the top of a familiar vehicle.

"Hey, Ash," Jay calls up to me through the window. He grins. "Nice of you to drop in!"

"Are you alright?" Zane asks, craning his neck slightly to see me.

"Yeah, fine," I look myself over a couple more times, but nothing feels broken. "Looks like the suit works."

"We're also no longer in last!" Jay whoops from his seat. "Things are looking up!"

A dark shadow suddenly blankets the Ultrasonic Raider, and I sit up as it slows to follow us.

"Oh no, Garmadon!" Kai shouts as the Bounty looms into view behind us.

"What?" Jay gasps as the other three follow my gaze.

"Dammit," I growl as the Bounty's roar joins the Raider's. "He must know we're trying to save the dojo!"

I stand up carefully, balancing myself on the jolting Raider as I try to give myself lift. A few scattered flames curl around my ankles, but sputter out. Above, one of the Bounty's cannon slides out.

"I can't get up there!" I shout. "And he's prepping a shot!"

"Ah, we're sitting ducks!" Jay cries. "There's nowhere to run!"

"Ash, can you make a shield or something?" Cole shouts up, and I nod in response.

"But I don't know how big I can make it!" I yell. "There isn't much time!"

"Do whatever you can!" Kai looks up at me with a pleading gaze. "Anything's better than nothing!"

I turn back toward the Bounty as it moves to our side for a wider shot. I concentrate my power, gathering a wide circle of flames around my hand and every speck of power I can manage from Spitfire. My head strains and my vision pops as I struggle to use every bit of power that exists in my body to sculpt into a shield. I glance up at the Bounty, at the cannon aimed right at the Raider, and I know it won't be enough. Not so soon. I clench my eyes shut.

A loud roar rips through my thoughts. My eyes fly open just as Ultra Dragon veers around the corner and knocks into the Bounty, sending it into a wild pivoting turn just as the cannon fires. The black dot of the cannonball flies toward us in a wide arc still aimed to hit us, but now I'm prepared.

"Ash?" Jay calls up nervously as I concentrate my power and turn it into a flaming red disc around my hand.

"I got it," I raise my hand and face the giant rock of iron head on. I throw all of my power behind my shield as the cannonball hits and the world explodes in a burst of fire, sand, and blistering heat. My arm shudders and nearly gives, but I push back against the crushing force with all of my strength.

The massive weight suddenly vanishes as the canyon walls reappear around me. I let out a burst of air as my lungs heave for breath and a chorus of cheers erupts beneath my feet.

"You did it, Ash!" Jay shouts.

"No," I shake my head. "It was Lloyd. He bought us the time I needed."

"Nice going, Lloyd!" Kai yells as Ultra Dragon soars just above us. The reins suddenly appear in front of the Ultrasonic Raider followed by a falling Lloyd who just manages to catch them before he hits the sand.

"You saved us," Cole thanks him from the driver's seat.

"I did?" Lloyd asks in disbelief as he steadies himself on the lurching reins. "I mean, I did! Hey, what do you say we work together?"

"Yeah," Jay agrees. "I say we show them what we ninja, and assassin, are all about!"

A few sparse flames curl around my ankles when I focus, and I manage a smile.

"I should be recharged soon," I say. "Then we can really show them everything we've got."

"Good," Cole grins as he steps on the gas. "Because we have a cup to win."

* * *

Cole's dad crashes into a snowbank right in front of me, sending snow flying into my face as I gain some altitude and try to avoid it. My flames shudder in the freezing air, but hold.

"We'll never get through those trees to catch up," Kai's voice carries to me as I catch up to the Raider.

"I'll find a shortcut," Lloyd shouts from his dragon. "Up, boy!"

The dragon soars higher into the trees at his word, and I can't hold back a proud smile.

He returns a few seconds later. "Follow me!" he shouts, leading us down a thinner path with a loud cry of excitement.

"Wow, he's getting the hang of it," Jay whistles.

"And it looks like we made up the lost time," Cole adds before looking up at me. "Ash, keep a lookout. We don't want any surprises, especially with Garmadon hanging around."

"Duly noted, captain," I give him a mock salute as I rise into the towering trees.

As if on cue, the skeletons' monster truck comes alive with movement, and a giant crane skeleton hand flies out from its top, reaching for Ultra Dragon.

"Lloyd, watch out!" I yell as the hand curls around the dragon's leg and, as the truck turns sharply, tugs him toward the ground. I rush forward instinctively, sending a burst of fire toward the chain that misses and careens wildly into the sky.

"Ash, get out of there!" Cole's voice yells to me from nowhere as one of Ultra Dragon's wings slams into me, sending me flying backwards. The sky and ground spiral over and around me as I struggle to right myself, then something tugs on me from below and the world shakily returns to normal.

"You okay?" one of three Kais asks as I scrunch against him in the seat.

I blink and gradually the three Kais solidify into one. "Yeah, I'm fine," I shake my head before craning to look out the window, but all I see are barren trees and snow. "What about Lloyd?"

"He's out of the race," Zane answers. "The skeletons are too."

"I should go back for him-"

"Lloyd will be fine, Ash," Kai says.

I give him a pointed look. "Last time you said that, snakes raided our apartment and tried to kidnap him."

"Garmadon is doing everything he can to stop us from winning the race," the Raider lurches as Cole turns to avoid a careening car. I wonder not for the first time how he managed to get his license. "His focus is on us today, not Lloyd."

A hiss of smoke slips between my teeth, making Kai cough. I quickly apologize. "Alright," I glance up at the hatch. "I guess I'll get back out there then."

"Stay in here a bit," Cole says before I can leave. "The road's about to get really bumpy, and we can't afford to lose you just yet."

"Just yet?" I raise an eyebrow. "Trying to get rid of me already, I see."

Cole rolls his eyes. "I've seen the bags you and Nya come home with. I don't think I trust you with $100,000."

"You weren't complaining when I bought that dress a few weeks back," I smirk, and Kai lets out a snicker.

I settle back against the red ninja, squirming a little to try and give him more room. The attempt is minimally successful.

* * *

The Raider lurches as we start our ascent up a mountain. Other racers scream past us and into igloos, barely avoiding unsuspecting people as they rush by. The mailman flies into a snowman and disappears into a snow bank, earning a decent flinch from all of us.

"Careful, Cole," I cringe as another racer wipes out. My ears strain against the sudden difference in air pressure, but settle as Zane punches a few buttons to equalize it. "Let's not lose because you decided to run us off the road."

"You kidding, Ash?" Kai chuckles beside me as we scream past a dozen racers. "Nothing can stop us now!"

Something pops and the Raider shudders, blaring an alarm through the pod. The screen in front of Kai suddenly flashes with a row of blinking circles, but I still don't understand what's going on.

"Did we hit something?"

"No," Zane shakes his head. "We've used up all of our fuel! We're not going to make it to the finish line!"

"No," my mind scrambles. "There has to be something."

"We're running on fumes," Kai scowls at his screen. He swipes a hand over a few options. "I'm trying to reroute some of our energy, but it's not going to last."

Jay grimaces. "Aw, I don't want to say it, guys, but I think our goose is cooked!"

A horn blares from outside and we look up to see Jay's parents grinning back at us.

"You guys look like you could use a hand there!" Jay's dad shouts. "We heard on the radio that you're all trying to save Dareth's dojo!"

"Oh, yeah, we're so proud of you, son!" Jay's mom beams from the passenger seat.

"Thanks, mom!" Jay yells back, his face flaming with embarrassment. "But we're out of gas!"

"Ooh, then take ours!"

Jay glances backward at the stream of racers still clinging to the road. He grimaces. "But how? If we stop now we'll lose the lead!"

"Well then, we'll have to do this the hard way, son," Jay's dad grins as he pulls a long coiled tube from beneath his seat.

Jay's dad hands the wheel over to his wife before he carefully crawls over the back of their car toward their gas tank. The hatch opens above our heads and Jay starts to head out into the cold mountain air.

"Ash, where are you going?" Kai asks as I start to clamber out after Jay.

"To make sure he doesn't fall," I answer as I emerge onto the top of the Raider. I carefully get to my feet, heart lurching a little as the Raider clatters over ice and snow.

"Take this end, son!" Jay's dad shouts from their car as he holds the open end of the tube toward Jay. The blue ninja carefully shuffles toward him and I follow, bracing myself against the brutal wind and cold as Jay descends to the gas tank. He wobbles a little on his feet, tensing every muscle in my body before he regains his footing.

"Keep it steady," he calls nervously to Cole, who slows down just a touch.

Jay opens the tank with trembling hands as the other racers appear over the crest of a high hill, moving closer with every second. The Bounty looms high over them, hanging like a guillotine over our heads as it crawls closer.

"I don't mean to rush you, Jay, but we're kind of in a hurry," I grimace as a flurry of loose snow flies into my face.

"I'm hurrying!" Jay grabs hold of the tube and connects it to the gas tank before turning to his father. "Ready, dad!"

Jay's father wrenches a lever on the tube, unleashing sloshing gas that flows from their car to ours. The Bounty streaks toward us, casting a shadow over the Raider. I tense as a dozen dark shapes suddenly plummet from the ship and I realize with a start they're snakes being thrown overboard. A few of them land on the back of the green bus a ways behind us, and as they get to their feet they glare at us with murderous gazes.

"Cole!" I yell over my shoulder, hoping he can hear me before I turn to Jay. "We don't have much time."

"I know, I know!" he shakes the tube a little. "But this thing is going too slow!"

"We've got company, boys!" Cole's head appears from the front of the Raider as he warns Kai and Zane of the advancing bus snakes. I tighten my stance on the lurching vehicle as they leap from the bus and onto the Raider.

I vaguely hear Jay's voice as a burst of fire blazes from my hands and into the oncoming wave of snakes. A few of them scream and fall sideways into the snow, but a few make it through and snap at me with scaled hands and fangs. One of them grasps at my arms, but I pitch him over the edge with a solid blow to the stomach.

"We need some help, guys!" Jay shouts desperately as I barely avoid a snap at my neck.

"We've got your back!" Zane's voice is whipped away by the wind as he and Cole make their way toward us. A snake swings wildly at my head and I catch his arm, twisting it until he cries out and tumbles from the Raider.

A blaze of red catches my eye and I see a snake crawling toward the gas tank with a sinister chuckle. My eyes fly to Cole.

"Cole, the gas!" I yell as I'm almost shoved off the Raider by a strong wind. Cole notices and moves to dispatch the snake. My gaze follows him for a second before I'm suddenly grabbed from behind. A snake hisses into my ear and I barely turn, meeting his eyes filled with panic as he teeters on the edge of the Raider.

"Let go!" I scream as I try to tear its grip away from my shoulder, but I'm pulled too far off balance. The Raider disappears under my feet as we both tumble into the snow

The snake's scaled hands tug on my body in a desperate attempt to stop me, but I struggle against him, willing all my fire into my legs and hands as I drive my palms into his chest. He screams and finally lets me go, throwing me violently into the air with a screech of steam.

The world slowly settles around me, and I blink away the haze in time to see every racer tumble down the face of the mountain in a wild and uncontrolled avalanche of snow and racers that comes to a stop just feet from the cliffside.

"Oh no," I breathe as I streak down toward the familiar and, thankfully, mostly unharmed shape of the Raider at the bottom of the cliff. I nearly make it before my fire sputters out and I plummet into the snow.

"Ash!" Cole's voice calls from somewhere as I struggle to remember which way is up. "Are you alright?"

I sit up carefully, wincing a little as my face stings. I wipe at it, streaking blood across my fingers in a blaze of scarlet. I rub it away in the snow and get to my feet a little dizzyingly. "Yeah, I'm fine," I answer Cole, shaking my head to clear it. "Must've scratched myself on the landing."

He frowns a little. "I thought-"

"The hood doesn't cover that part of my face," I give him a pointed look. "I'm fine."

"Good, because we're going to have to fix the Raider and fast if we're going to win this race," Kai says as he and Zane start to work on restarting the engine.

"Wait, stop!" Jay rushes off toward the steaming wreckage of his parents' car. They stand a little off to the side, looking up as Jay approaches them. Thankfully, they seem unhurt.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay," Jay breathes a heavy sigh of relief. Any trace of his earlier embarrassment is gone, instead replaced by the love he obviously feels for his overbearing parents.

"Oh, we're fine, son," Jay's father chuckles. He glances back at their totaled car. "I just wish I could say the same for the old Jalopy."

"Yeah, shame she didn't get to the finish line," his wife sighs.

Jay stares at the car for a second, a plan clicking into his green irises as he grabs a pipe from the hood. "I'll make sure a part of her will," he promises just as the Raider roars to life behind us.

"Looks like you're riding with me again, Ash," Kai says as he and Zane start to climb back into their spots. I wipe another streak of blood from my face and start toward the Raider.

"You sure you're alright?" Cole asks again. I roll my eyes.

"Peachy," I answer. I give him a smile to hopefully calm his raging nerves. "Just as long as there are no driving mishaps until we get to the finish line."

He answers my smile with one of his own as we again pile into the Raider. All that's left of the dozens of racers that entered the completion are us, the Bounty that flies ahead, and mangled bits of ruined cars. I grimace.

"Looks like it's down to us and Garmadon," I flinch as Kai accidentally digs his elbow into my side. He quickly apologizes.

"We just need to keep our focus," Zane says, though his hands tighten imperceptibly beneath his gloves. It's a little unnerving to see the usually resolute nindroid so rattled, but I try not to focus on it for too long.

Jay is the last one to enter the Raider. He takes a few seconds to attach the small bit of his parents' vehicle to the front of our own before jumping into his seat, nodding to Cole to pull down the hatch as the engine roars.

"Let's go," Jay grins under his hood. "We've got a dojo to save."

* * *

"Looks like it's just us and Garmadon," Cole grins as the Bounty looms above us. Empty stretches of desert sand and electrical poles sprawl on either side of the road, and, in the distance, we can see the outline of Ninjago City.

"This time, let's make sure the good guys don't finish last," Kai says as he reaches over to push a lever. The speedometer's number on screen starts to climb as the Raider speeds up, pushing close to 100 as we start to gain on the Bounty and then overtake it.

"Heh, looks like we have this in the bag," Jay chuckles as the Bounty grows smaller behind us.

Movement ahead catches my attention. "Guys, what's that?" I ask, raising my arm in the scrunched space to point to where a dark smudge begins to split the sand in front of us, spreading and thickening before our eyes.

"Huh?" Kai follows my finger to where the smudge has grown.

Something clicks in my head. "It's a cliff!"

Cole slams on the brakes, nearly throwing us all onto the dashboard as the Raider screeches and swings toward the gaping canyon that's suddenly opened before us. We come to a screaming stop just an inch before we tumble off the cliffside, barely regaining our wits before the Bounty flies past us, speeding toward Ninjago City.

"Ugh, that's totally cheating!" Jay cries after it as Cole straightens the Raider out. Being so close to the cliff had nearly stopped my heart, so the distance is very welcome.

"Guys, it's impossible to cross that divide," Zane grimaces.

"Ash, you have to get to the Bounty!" Cole turns to me. "You're our only chance!"

"Right," I open the hatch above us and start to feel the flow of power surge into my limbs. "Just-uh, be careful, alright?"

"Don't worry about us," Kai says as I emerge into the arid, dusty air. "Just win the race. We'll catch up if we can."

I nod and burst from the roof in a scatter of flames. The Bounty is far ahead of us now, but I with a push of fire I easily catch up. My fire flickers as I come in line with the deck, but thankfully holds as I keep pace with the ship.

_Don't go out, don't go out_ I grit my teeth as my hands clench around my flames. I cannot lose. Not only is Dareth's dojo on the line, but Lloyd's training as well. It's taken us this long to find him a suitable place to begin to work on his power. Losing the dojo now could ruin everything we've worked for. I have to win, I have to-

Something crashes into me, blowing me out of the sky and into something solid. My face hits with a scream from the tear across my cheek, but thankfully nothing else hurts. I tug off my mask to wipe the new smear of blood from my face and get my bearings, but something slams into my side, throwing me onto my back with a crack of my head.

"I see you're meddling in things again," Garmadon's blazing red eyes find mine. He grasps a massive staff in one hand and leans against it heavily, like he's exhausted from throwing snakes off the side of the deck. Still, he kicks me again, hard enough to rattle my head against the floor. "I thought it was the rulers' duty to watch Ninjago, not interfere in its business."

"A threat against my friends is a threat against me," I wipe a streak of blood from my face as I struggle to my feet. "There are no rules against personal business, especially against tyrants."

"Tyrant?" he chuckles as he stalks closer. "Need I remind you of your own mistakes? Trusting complete strangers over your own father, choosing them over the man who raised you."

"I did what I knew was right," I let my hands drop to my sides. "Just as Desmond did when he tried to avenge his wife's death. All the good was squashed out of him the day she died, but you've showed us that there's still some good inside you."

I take a step toward him. "Please, Garmadon, I know you're better than this, and Lloyd does too. He loves you, he really does, but you and him can't be a family again until something changes. You can prove to him you're not all bad. You can prove to him you're the hero he wants to believe you are. Please. End this now."

I let out a strangled cry as Garmadon grabs my throat, pulling me up off the ground despite his weakened state. I claw at the hand crushing my windpipe, but he doesn't let go.

"What do you know of my son?" he hisses into my face. My vision strangles and pops with bursts of color as his hand tightens on my throat. "You would drag him into your war against evil, use him as a soldier for your own cause. Don't you see I'm trying to save him? If he never becomes a ninja, he will never have to fight me. He will eventually come to his senses and join me where he belongs. You know nothing of peace, _your highness_."

I struggle to take in enough breath to say something, anything, but he just tightens his hold as he lurches toward the side of the ship.

"You may have chosen your friends over your father, but I will make it so Lloyd never has to choose," he holds me over railing and lets my feet dangle in empty air. White noise screams between my ears as I struggle to focus enough to spark some sort of fire inside me, but my energy is quickly slipping away to blackness. "I will make it so he never has to fall victim to meaningless prophecies, I will make it so he never has to fight me, I will make it so he will never choose worthless friends over his own father." – he leans close to me, red eyes burning into mine as my vision swims with black dots- "_He will be free_."

The iron vice around my throat disappears and, for a second, my lungs fill gratefully with air before time restarts and I plummet. My chest shudders with a croak as I struggle to scream, to try and right myself, but I can't. The ground rises up to meet me and I'm powerless to stop it.

My body slams against something too soon, hard enough to knock the weak breath out of me for a second time. My eyes fly open as I feel a familiar smooth metal beneath me and an even more familiar face next to mine.

"Kai pulled the lever," Cole explains as I look up at him with a mixture of extreme shock, confusion, and gratitude.

"I'm glad you did," I answer in a feeble voice, coughing slightly as the air slowly starts to move more normally through my throat. "Remind me to buy Nya a gift when we're done."

"We're almost to the finish line!" Jay shouts a little farther up the Raider-plane as we pass the outer edge of the city and reenter the streets. Cole and I crawl up closer to him and Zane, watching in anticipation as the Bounty and Raider fly neck and neck toward the center of town and the finish line.

We turn a corner and a crowd of screaming people meets us, flying past us in a blur of color as we streak toward the finish line. My hand finds Cole's and he squeezes it tight as we fly toward it at top speed with the Bounty just above us.

We scream over the line just as Kai forces the Raider down and onto the street in a squeal of sparks and metal, twisting it just in time to not crash into a tower. We disembark from the Raider, looking at each other in a few seconds of stunned relief and anticipation before the entire crowd of people surrounds us, chanting god-knows-what before we're suddenly lifted into the air, me with a slight scream.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, princess," a familiar voice says beneath me, and I look down to find myself on Hale's shoulders. "On more than one occasion."

I smile back at him. "I hope it was worth it," I cough as I tug a little at the fabric around my neck. The speakers suddenly scream to life.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!" the first announcer blares over the speaker, and the crowd goes completely silent. Everyone's attention flies to the screen where the last second of the race is displayed.

"It's close," Hale whispers, his hands tightening slightly around my ankles.

I hold my breath as the picture expands, but then red circle surrounds the small pipe Jay had pulled from his parents' car and attached to the Raider's nosepiece… giving us an extra inch that pushed us over the finish line!

"The ninja! The ninja have won!" the announcer shouts as the crowd goes completely nuts. I let out a barely contained scream of excitement as Hale lifts me from his shoulders and pulls me into a tight hug.

"You did it, Ash," he mutters into my ear in stark contrast to the screaming crowd.

"Thanks to your suit," I smile as I pull away. "I wouldn't have survived half of that without you."

Hale smiles softly back, but whatever his response is, it's cut off by a brutal voice.

"No, that's not fair!" Garmadon shouts from beside the Bounty, watching as Jay tugs off the pipe that won us the race. "That thing wasn't even part of the vehicle in the first place! It's not even street legal! My ship was-"

"_Your_ ship?" Lloyd's voice pierces through the crowd, and I look up to see the small and his Ultra Dragon looming together on the Bounty. He glares down at his father. "I believe this belongs to us."

Police sirens blare as two cops screech to a stop beside the Bounty. They leave their cars and approach the would-be overlord. "Alright, Garmadon," the first of them says. "You're coming with us."

There's another squeal of tires and the cops are suddenly intercepted by the familiar green shape of the snakes' bus. Before anyone can move, Garmadon clambers onto the bus and screeches away and around a corner, disappearing from sight in seconds.

"Well, I guess that's that," Jay shrugs.

"You're not going after them?" Hale asks.

I shake my head. "I think we've had enough of saving people today. One victory's enough."

"You're telling me, princess!" Dareth's voice blares from nearby as he revels over the giant bowl of a trophy filled to the brim with money. "We did it! We saved the dojo!"

"We?" Kai raises an eyebrow with a chuckle. "I didn't see you risking your life on the track."

The excited sensei completely ignores him as he turns to us with an ecstatic grin. "Look what I can do! Cannonball!" Dareth leaps into the trophy, sending a spray of money flying to our faces as he sits comfortably among the bundles. Everyone bursts into laughter as he looks up with us with his usual happy-go-lucky face and wades among the pile of money.

"I should probably get back to the shop," Hale chuckles as I turn to him. "I have to finish some stuff for tomorrow."

"Why don't you stay and celebrate with us, Hale?" Zane asks, and the archer looks up with him with barely concealed surprise.

"Yeah, no offense, Ash, but without your suit you probably would've gotten squashed," Jay adds with a slight laugh.

"Thanks for the overwhelming confidence," I roll my eyes.

"But really," Kai says. "You helped us out. This victory is just as much yours as it is ours."

Hale's gray eyes move to the black ninja, who meets his gaze with a carefully controlled expression. "Only if Cole invites me."

Cole's jaw shifts, but he says nothing.

"Come on, Cole, his suit kept Ash safe," Jay pushes his arm, but he still doesn't budge. "Isn't that enough for you?"

"If it helps, I detect no traces of deception or harmful intent from him," Zane adds.

Cole lets out a growl. "Fine," he grumbles as if he's pulling out a tooth. "If you guys think he's okay, who am I to be a stick in the mud?"

"Was that really so hard?" I ask, giving him a smile that he doesn't return.

"Yes," he scowls before giving me a pointed look. "But I swear this is as far as I go. We are not going to wear matching outfits."

"Never," Hale grimaces. "I look terrible in black."

"Surprise, surprise."

Hale gives Cole a look. "What happened to being a stick in the mud?"

Cole clicks his tongue. "I'm just saying, only certain people can pull off full black. Then again, you didn't have much of a problem wearing it when you were pretending to be Fang or whatever-"

"Cole!"

"At least I wear a different color palette every once in a while," Hale scowls back. "I mean, seriously, are all the clothes you have copies of the same outfit? Because every time I see you you're wearing the same thing-"

"Hale, stop-"

"We have to be prepared to fight evil at any time, day or not," Cole narrows his eyes. "Sorry, Hale, but not all of us can sit around dusty weapon shops and dream about other people's girlfriends all the time-"

"That's enough from both of you!" I shout loud enough to snap them out of their argument. They've moved so close to each other that in just another few inches they would be nose to nose.

"He started it!" they both growl, glaring at one another as they realize the other said the same thing.

"Well, that's a start," I laugh as everyone apart from Hale and Cole bursts back into laughter. The two guys stay tense, but the hostility between them seems to have lessened, if only a little bit.

_Progress_ I think to myself. _Progress_.


	8. Night Under the Stars

_Ha! Barely made my midnight deadline XD Sorry for the later update, I've been real busy this week. This is a total fluff chapter full of fluffy Cole/OC goodness that was hell to write, but hopefully won't be hell to read XD Anyway, thanks and don't forget to leave a review!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen-_

_PS_

_Song used is "She's Always a Woman" by Billy Joel. Beautiful song worth listening to._

* * *

I'd never really thought much of how fantastic a nice, soft mattress was, at least not until I was so crashed from training I was grateful for anything softer than a punching bag. But after so long huddling blankets together to keep my body cushioned against concrete, having my mattress back is like being handed a piece of nirvana. The boys had been excited to get their room back too, but to finally have my personal space without putting up a ratty screen… it's enough to make me appreciate every fiber of this ship.

I'm drifting through pleasant dreams, my legs entangled in a blanket even softer than my old one, when my door clatters open and spills excruciating light from the hall. I groan as I pull the covers over my face.

"Hey, Ash. You awake?"

"No," I grumble back. I barely recognize the voice as Cole's before I'm already slipping back into my dream. Something about eating pancakes with my dad.

Cole doesn't leave. "Well, rise and shine. If you're not getting out of bed willingly, I'm dragging you out."

"You wouldn't dare," I growl as I tighten my grip on my covers. Useless since my fingers barely move with residual sleep.

I can practically feel the grin on Cole's face as he crosses the room to my bedside. Spitfire hisses something at him as he grabs my exposed arm, and I weakly try to tug it back. His hands find my body beneath the covers and I struggle against him.

"Cole, please-"

"I warned you, Ash."

"Cole," I whine helplessly as he drags me from the haven of my mattress and pulls me over his shoulder. I flatten a hand against his face to try and pull myself from his grasp, but he just laughs.

"You should've just gotten up willingly," he chuckles, not even fazed by my weight or struggles as he carries me from the room. I grumble something less than polite back as a cloud of irritated smoke puffs from Spitfire's nostrils. Cole only laughs.

We emerge onto the empty deck where the sun is barely peeking over the horizon. I finally regain enough feeling in my hands to shove even harder against Cole's body, unbalancing him until we both plummet to the ground.

I catch the fall in my shoulders, jarring my neck as my head hits the deck. Cole's weight nearly crushes me for a second before he regains his wits and lifts himself onto his arms. I shove him with an irritated hand.

"No one else is even up yet, jerk," I growl as he chuckles again.

"I just wanted to give us some alone time before training, that's all."

"I was trying to catch up on much-needed beauty sleep."

His lips crash against mine, as warm and inviting as my mattress was. My eyes close for a second before he pulls away, grinning down at me through thick eyelashes I would kill for. "You look fine."

I raise an eyebrow. "Are you just saying that so I won't stay mad at you?"

He chuckles. "Depends. Is it working?"

I shove him off me with a roll of my eyes, but can't help but crack a smile. "You're lucky I'm not awake yet."

He grins as I sit up with him. "Not exactly an answer, but I'll take it. Besides, too much sleep can be bad for you."

"Not when I've been sleeping on concrete," I shake my head. "I should be allowed to indulge in my mattress, at least for one night."

"That makes two of us," he winks, and I kick him.

"I thought we agreed. No more innuendos, especially around Lloyd."

"Hey, kid's gotta learn somehow-"

I kick him again, and he catches my ankle with a laugh. "I'm joking," he grins. "Besides, we're alone up here. The others won't be along for at least another hour. Lloyd, another hour and a half."

He tugs me closer to him. "I think we have the right to be a little loose right now. I mean, we haven't had any personal space since, well, we had a ship."

"That's because we're supposed to be focused on Lloyd," I let out a breath. "I don't know, it just… it feels weird to do something like this when we're supposed to be helping him."

"Well, he's asleep now and we have the whole deck to ourselves," Cole says. "Why not have a little us time?"

A smile quirks my lips despite myself. "Because I'm never really sure what to do with our… us time. I mean, I'm not even entirely sure of what we are myself."

"We're two friends who just happen to be something more, right?" he raises a dark eyebrow. Something sparks in his eye.

"Don't say 'friends-with-benefits' or I swear I will light you on fire."

He laughs. "Alright, so not-" he chuckles as I give him a pointed look. "That. But we are friends."

I nod. "First and foremost."

"But I can do this-" he kisses me softly again. "Without being weird."

"I understand that, it's just…" my eyes glide down his angular face, one I've memorized and seen in my dreams too many times to count. My face flames at the thought. "We've never actually, uh…"

"What?"

I laugh awkwardly. "Well, we've never actually gone out a date."

He pauses, then his eyebrows come together. "We haven't?"

I shake my head. "I don't know what you're remembering, but you and I have certainly never gone anywhere to just be a- uh- _thing_."

"Well then, let's fix that," he says. "You, me- official date night."

I raise an eyebrow. "What, tonight?"

"Why not?" he shrugs. "What do you want to do? I'm partial to anything involving desserts-"

I laugh. "You decide. I've never been on an official date before."

"Really?"

I give him a pointed look. "Cole, I was a ticking time bomb as a child, then went on a four-year run in the woods because I burned my village to the ground. Do you really think I had the time or energy to go on dates?"

"Alright, fine. Point made," he sits back. "So we need something romantic to start you off with."

"Romantic?"

"Well, if you've never been on one, we have to do it right," he winks. "What's your favorite food?"

"Zane's chicken Milano," I answer. "Hands down."

"Alright," he nods. "So I get him to teach me how to make it, we grab some plates and-"

"Why don't we just ask him to make it for us?" I ask hurriedly. "I mean, I'm sure he'd do it if we asked nicely, and a- uh- personal chef sounds great."

His eyes narrow ever so slightly. "Why do I get the feeling you just don't want me to cook for you?"

"I just- uh- want to spend as much time as we can together, you know?" I offer him what I hope is a conciliatory smile. His expression doesn't change. "You can decide what we do in the meantime."

"Alright," he finally agrees, and I stifle a sigh of relief. "But I don't see what the problem is. I'm pretty great."

"Let's just- uh- save your talents for training, alright?" I get to my feet. "Speaking of which, we should probably set things up for Lloyd. You know, given that we're here so early."

Cole rolls his eyes as he gets up. "Fine. But you watch yourself, Ash. Now that I'm in charge of the evening, there's no telling what I might do."

"Right," I cross my arms. "We're on a ship thousands of feet above the ground with no sign of stopping. The worst you can do is tell a bad joke."

"Au contaire, mon petite chou, there are many things I can do."

"Did you just call me a little cabbage?"

He chuckles. "Just be careful what you wish for, alright?"

"Right."

* * *

"You're wearing _that_ on a date?"

I roll my eyes as Nya's auburn gaze flicks down my worn jeans. My favorites. "Like it's an actual date."

"I think it's as actual as you're going to get given that we're on an airship training the savior of our world to fight the lord of all evil," Nya raises a dark eyebrow. I manage a laugh.

"You are such a ham sometimes," I shake my head. "Cole and I are friends. First and foremost."

"So is everyone on this ship," her cherry-red lips quirk into a smile. How was her lipstick always so perfect? "But if there's anyone onboard willing to go all out on some romantic splurge, it's Cole."

"Are you kidding?" I chuckle. "Have you not met Jay?"

Her cheeks redden ever so slightly at the mention of the blue ninja (an adorable fact I've reminded her of often) and she licks her lips. "Yes, Jay does have a… penchant for romantic endeavors, but you have to remember where Cole's coming from."

"Your point?"

"Well one, his dad's one of the best tenors in all of Ninjago," she starts counting off on small, willowy fingers. "Two, he was raised to be literally every girl's greatest dream; I mean dancing, singing, performance schools. Three-"

"Alright," I slump onto my bed. "So he's basically the lab rat of all things gentleman. But that doesn't mean he's going to pull anything crazy tonight. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

She shakes her head. "Never ask that question on this ship."

"I still think you're just getting worked up."

"Your romantic funeral," she shrugs, reaching out to pick up the small frame on my nightstand. She examines it with a surprised raise of her eyebrows. "How did this-"

"Survive? It shouldn't have," I shake my head as she stares at the smiling picture of my mother. It had been my prized possession as a kid, a memory of the life Desmond had taken away from me before I could even remember. I was lucky to have had it in the first place, but after the Devourer had, well, devoured our ship, I had thought it was gone for good. "When Garmadon pieced the ship back together, he must have fixed everything else too."

"You look a lot like her," Nya says she replaces it on the nightstand.

"Really? Most everyone else says I look like my dad," I pause. "Well, you've never met my dad."

She laughs. "Hey, you haven't met mine either."

"But even then, you and Kai don't look much alike. Well, despite all the same mannerisms-"

"Mannerisms?"

"Well, you grit your teeth the same when you're frustrated-"

"No we don't."

"Uh, yeah you do. It's the most obvious thing about you two."

"I don't grit my teeth."

"You're doing it right now."

Her tongue flicks between tight lips again. "No I'm not."

I let out a laugh as someone knocks softly at the door. It squeals open to reveal a small Lloyd already washed up for dinner.

"Zane said he's almost done, and Cole wants to meet you downstairs. I think he said by the boiler room."

"The boiler room?" I get to my feet.

"I don't know either," Lloyd shrugs. "I'm just excited I might actually get a piece of cake this time around."

"I thought I managed to smuggle you some last time-"

"He found it."

I roll my eyes. "Damn that man and his penchant for sniffing out stray slices of cake."

Nya chuckles as she gets to her feet, her black leggings rustling against her crimson top as she pats me on the shoulder. "You're the one who chose him, honey."

"I didn't have much of a choice, it was either him or your brother and I felt my own fire power was enough-"

Nya rolls her eyes as I let out a laugh and follow her and Lloyd from the room. Nya offers one last smile and warning that I shrug off before she disappears down the hall with the small ninja, who was asking why she thought Cole was a threat. I chuckle as I head the opposite way, deeper into the ship and the room Cole had asked me to.

"Romantic splurge," I snort. "Right."

* * *

The room seems to swallow all light as I open the door. I step into the shadow of the room, blinking as my eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness.

"Cole? You here?"

The door slams shut behind me, making me jump. Something grabs my arms and my fire sparks instinctively.

"Whoa, not yet," Cole chuckles from just behind me. I let out a breath as my flames die.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Not today."

"So what's with the lights?" I ask, turning into his grip to try and see his face in the enveloping darkness. "And wasn't there a window in here?"

"Remember when you decided to underestimate me?" I can hear his grin. "You shouldn't have."

"What did you-"

Something slips into my hand. "Now you can use your fire."

"Cole, what is-"

"Trust me."

Still incredulous, fire sparks to life around my hand and engulfs whatever tickles my fingertips. Cole pulls it from my grasp just as the entire room suddenly explodes with light, blasting into my corneas like a thousand suns. I blink and realize the whole room is ringed with sparking candles, held by sconces and sticks placed all around the walls and floor. I take a step back and take it all in, my mouth popping open as Cole gives me another grin from where he holds his candle.

"Impressed?"

"How did you-"

"I convinced Jay to help me set up a little candle system," he shrugs, then gives me a wink. "We just needed the spark to ignite it."

His gaze flicks down my worn jeans, reflected in his own khakis and flannel shirt. The sleeves are rolled up to the elbow, showing off his shapely forearms, and I try to be decent and look away. "You look nice, by the way."

"Thanks," I shake my head and try to disperse my thoughts. "These candles are nice. Consider me impressed-"

"Ah, but that isn't the end of it," Cole chuckles. He gestures to a couple of long fingers to the floor where a thick quilt is laid out. I turn back to him.

"You aren't serious."

"Au contraire, mon-"

"I swear, if you call me a little cabbage again-"

"Well okay, _inamorata_," he rolls his eyes.

"What does that mean?"

He ignores me. "As I was saying, this isn't where the fun stops. We're just getting started."

Cole drops his candle and brandishes something from behind his back. I blink and realize it's a bouquet of brilliant purple hydrangeas.

My face flames. "You aren't serious."

He grins.

"How did you even-"

"I asked Nya to pick something up while we were training. Her Samurai suit is pretty handy when it comes to discreet flower deliveries."

Nya's words flutter back into my head. I grumble under my breath, "She's getting quite the talking to later."

"Hey, the rest of this I did without assistance," he holds the flowers out to me. "Like I remembered you like hydrangeas."

"How did you even know that? The only person I ever told was-" I pause. "Nya. Of course. Did she tell you all of my secrets?"

"Only the harmless ones," he winks. "Though I did try to get her to give up a few deeper ones."

"And how did that go?"

"Remember that bruise I had just below my eye?"

I laugh. "At least she defended the girl code," I smile as I finally take the flowers. "Thanks, Cole. These are really sweet. But uh-" I lick my lips. "Not as sweet as this."

I reach around his neck and bring his face down to mine. He moves without a fight, sighing into the kiss as my arms tighten around his neck, filling my senses with the smell of earth and flowers. He smiles against me in a clash of teeth, and I feel myself splutter.

"Sorry," he chuckles as he pulls away from me. His arms don't move. "I was just- ah- thinking that if you're already kissing me over flowers, well." His grin returns. "You're going to be very happy about this next part."

"There's a next part?"

He winks and pulls away from me, turning his back as he reaches for something hidden in the corner. "You have to promise not to laugh, alright? It's been a while since I tried this."

Cole turns, and I nearly drop.

"No way-"

He smiles a little sheepishly. "No laughing, remember?" he gestures back to the quilt. "Take a seat."

I plop down without thinking about it, my gaze riveted on the slightly battered guitar in Cole's broad hands as he takes a seat next to me. He coughs, and I realize his face is flaming with color- hidden slightly beneath his olive skin tone.

"Oh and uh, don't tell the others."

"Cole, I can't believe you're actually-"

He ducks his head, obscuring his ever reddening face behind strands of thick, dark hair. "Just- uh- don't laugh, alright?" He strums a chord and adjusts a peg.

"Why would I-" I bite my tongue as he gives me a pointed look. "I mean, alright."

His smile returns, and he takes a deep breath that fills his chest. I readjust my gaze to the flowers, and realize how hot my face has suddenly become.

"This is a- uh- song that I did not write or anything special. Just- uh- something I thought you'd enjoy," he coughs. "So- uh- yeah. Don't laugh."

A tense eternity of silence passes before Cole takes another deep breath and finally starts, strumming one slow, deliberate chord after another and not meeting my eyes. He takes one final breath, and- for the first time in who knows how long- he starts to sing.

"_She can kill with a smile/She can wound with her eyes/She can ruin your faith with her casual lies."_

My heart feels like it's exploding in my chest as I bury my blazing face in the hydrangeas. God, why was he so good and so sweet and so-

"_And she only reveals what she wants you to see_."

He taps my leg with his foot, and as I look up I realize his confident grin has returned.

"_She hides like a child/But she's always a woman to me_."

He laughs a little as an undignified squeal dies in my throat. I bury it with a cough and cover my face with the flowers again. _When did this turn into some romcom?_

"_She can lead you to love/She can take you or leave you/She can ask for the truth/But she'll never believe_."

He plays the guitar as well as he swings his scythe- smooth, skilled, effortless. My eyes watch as his fingers move between strings and chords like water, his gaze fixed on them just as much as mine.

"_And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free/Yeah, she steals like a thief/But she's always a woman to me_."

And his voice. _How could he ever have been self-conscious about that smooth, silky, beautiful-_

"_Oh, she takes care of herself/She can wait if she wants/She's ahead of her time_."

My face burns brighter than the surface of the sun, and I wonder how my whole body hasn't burst into flames yet.

"_Oh, and she never gives out/And she never gives in/She just changes her mind_."

His coffee-colored eyes find mine, grinning and mischievious, but still with a touch of the intense anxiety that had gripped him earlier. I answer with a smile of my own that nearly twists into a fanatical giggle.

"_She will promise you more than the Garden of Eden/Then she'll carelessly cut you/And laugh while you're bleedin'/But she'll bring out the best/And the worst you can be/Blame it all on yourself/Cause she's always a woman to_ me."

He starts to hum, deep and low in his chest. _How did I ever get so lucky?_

"_Oh, she takes care of herself/She can wait if she wants/She's ahead of her time/Oh, and she never gives out/And she never gives in/She just changes her mind_."

Nya was right. He is perfect.

"_She is frequently kind/And she's suddenly cruel/She can do as she pleases/She's nobody's fool/But she can't be convicted/She's earned her degree/And the most she will do/Is throw shadows at you/But she's always a woman to me_."

Cole's hands strum the last chord, and I nearly choke myself with the number of emotions that well into my throat.

"Well?" he asks as he sets the guitar aside. "What did you-ah- think?"

I shake my head as my whole body explodes_. How do I even describe it? It was beautiful, amazing, romantic, gorgeous, sweet, incredible, marvelous, breathtaking-_

"I just- I-" I lift my face from the hydrangeas. "Cole, I just- I love you."

We both freeze, and I feel my stomach lurch.

"Ash, did you just-"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"But-"

"No-"

Someone knocks at the door, loud enough to make both of us jump. Zane ducks his head into the room. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No, not at all," I hurriedly get to my feet. "Is that the food? Awesome, I'm starving."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope, not at all," I shake my head as I take the plates from the white ninja's surprisingly steady hands. When did I get so shaky? "Thanks for- uh- everything, I guess we'll see you in the morning, ha-ha."

"Are you sure you're-"

Zane receives his answer as the door closes on his confused and concerned face.

"Ash."

My chest heaves as I force myself to turn and face Cole, who is also on his feet.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that-"

A laugh escapes from his lips. "Don't apologize, Ash, I totally understand," his eyes soften on mine. "No need to get all worked up. It was just a- uh- slip of the tongue, right? No worries."

"Yeah," my heart sinks into my stomach. "Just a- uh- slip of the tongue."

He smiles as he takes a plate from my hands. "And you know how understanding I am about slips of the tongue."

I shove him with my free hand. "What did I say about-"

"Lloyd isn't around," he grins. "And we have this room all to ourselves. I mean, we have candles, a blanket, music, rose petals-"

"Rose petals?"

"Alright, hydrangeas, whatever. But we have the makings of… quite the night, don't we?" Cole's gaze shifts lower on my face.

I roll my eyes. "Cole, this is by far the cheesiest date I've ever been on," I hand him a plate with a still trembling hand.

"The _only_ date you've ever been on," he chuckles and bends down to kiss me, nearly shoving his plate into my hair. I stumble back.

"Laugh all you want, Romeo," my stomach rumbles as the smell of the chicken tickles my senses. "I'm starving."

He grins. "Of course. But before we get to that, one last surprise."

"What else could you possibly-"

"Don't worry, it's not nearly as bad as the others."

Cole hurries to the wall, where he's obscured the window with a small black cloth- throwing the room into shadows if it weren't for the candles.

I raise an eyebrow. "Is that a towel-?"

"I'm trying to be romantic," he gives me a pointed look. "You remember how you hated the windows being so grimy?"

"Sure?"

"And how this is your favorite part of the ship?"

"Uh-"

"Well, consider this an early Christmas gift."

He whisks the towel from the window, letting brilliant moonlight stream into the room of candles. The light is unobscured through the clear, flawless glass, filling the dim room with bright white light.

I blink as my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. "Wow, you cleaned a whole window for me?"

He rolls his eyes. "It took us forever. We thought that Garmadon's spell would fix the place up, but it kept most of the nasty-"

I kiss him in the cheek, and that's enough to shut him up.

"You can tell me more about your window-washing endeavors once we're done eating."

"The window wasn't your gift," he tugs something from his pocket. "I just wanted to make sure you could see it."

"Alright, but this better be the last-"

He holds the object out to me and I take it, realizing with a start it's a picture of me and him. Taken just a few weeks ago.

Nya had just bought a camera from some thrift store, and Lloyd had made it his mission to take pictures of nearly everything on the ship. Most of them were shaky close-ups taken during dinner or training, but this was one of the ones that actually turned out.

Mine and Coles' frozen gazes stare at each other in a moment stolen during dinner, a fact that makes my face flame just thinking about it. He and I had made it a point not to be so nauseatingly couply well, ever, and the fact Lloyd managed to get a snapshot just when we'd let our guard slip is something I don't know whether to applaud or resent.

Cole's soft smile brings me out of my reverie. "Best for last, right?"

"Are you trying to make me get all sentimental?" I raise an eyebrow as I huddle onto the quilt with my chicken and the photo. He chuckles and settles down next to me.

"What did I say? I wanted to give you a night to remember," he smiles. "That's the last of it, I promise."

I shake my head as I set the photo down and pick up my fork. "Cole, you are quite the charmer."

He chuckles as we both dig into the chicken. Zane's cooking melts in my mouth, and I suddenly find it hard to concentrate. "So I have heard."

I raise an eyebrow through my piece of poultry nirvana. "From who? The other girls you've wined and dined?"

"Well first, we're not having wine," he winks. "And I don't necessarily have other conquests."

I snort. "Don't tell me you've never dated."

"Oh no, I have," he shakes his head. "Just- uh- not permanently."

Both of my eyebrows rise. "One-night stands?"

"No!' his coffee-colored eyes widen. "Just- uh-"

"I'm joking, Cole," I laugh. "You've just never been serious with anyone, right?"

"Right," he breathes. "And for the record, 90% of them broke up with me."

"And the other 10%?"

"We don't talk about those."

I laugh again. "I bet it was the guitar that lured them in. Or your voice. Girls dig a guy who can sing."

He cringes. "Are you kidding? I'm nothing compared to my dad."

"Who's comparing you to your dad? Cole, what you sang to me was by far the sweetest, most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my entire life."

"Says the girl who thinks blender noises is music."

I give him a pointed look. "Don't talk smack about Fall Out Boy."

He shrugs. "I'm more of a jazz person myself. Always wanted to learn the saxophone…"

I shake my head as I take another bite of chicken. "You are such a square."

"For wanting to play saxophone?"

"For hating classic, grungy, angsty rock-"

"Not this again."

"I just don't see how you-"

"Ash, we talked about this already-"

"I mean, seriously. They're _amazing-_"

"For being tone-deaf, yeah."

"You did not just insult Patrick!"

"Patrick, are you on a first name basis?"

"He is my musical god, so yeah."

Cole rolls his eyes, and I stick my tongue out at him. He snorts.

"Did you really just-"

"No."

"You stuck your tongue out-"

"You're being childish-"

Cole laughs as he shakes his head and takes another bite of chicken. I can't hold back a stupid grin.

"This is- uh- really fun, Cole," I blush as I poke at my meal. "Thanks."

He shrugs. "It's the least I could do, especially for your first date," his eyes grow soft at mine. "Besides, who knows when we'll ever get to do this again, especially now that we have to help Lloyd."

My hand slips from my fork as my own smile quirks my lips and I let my gaze slip down his slightly crooked jaw. "Then I guess we should make the most of it now."

He chuckles softly. "Who's making the innuendos now?"

I don't respond as I reach forward and take his face in my hands, kissing him softly as he shoves everything aside and grasps at my shoulders. It's light, soft- more of a brush of lips than an actual kiss, but my face burns all the same.

It's strange to think that just a year ago I would never have imagined being where I am now, having an extremely cheesy dinner with someone I'd grown to care so much about in such a short time. Especially given the circumstances of how we met. I grin against the kiss as I remember our first encounter a thousand years ago, and the arduous journey we've had to take to now.

Cole is right when it comes to Lloyd- he's going to need all the help he can get. But for now I'm happy to just relax and spend a small eternity in the candlelit room.


	9. Child's Play

_Welcome to the end of the hiatus :) So sorry for the wait- I drove myself insane trying to figure out a way around it, but I couldn't. But hey, it gave me a chance to do some story-planning so hopefully it'll show in the next few chapters. If you have any questions (especially about characters, given that some... new things will be revealed) please don't hesitate to ask. I have ideas that don't always make it to the page, so I want to be sure you're understanding everything to its fullest extent._

_Anyway, I'll let you get to the reading :) _

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

"Lloyd… Lloyd!"

Lloyd finally looks away from the side of the ship and back toward us, his eyes distant and distracted. The sound of kids laughing below cuts through the cold mountain air and onto the deck of the ship.

"Concentrate!" Kai presses for the third time in a row.

"Now that the Bounty is in our possession again, we can train you more effectively, but you'll have to focus," Zane steps forward. I can tell he's trying to be more positive with Lloyd than Kai, despite the small ninja's lack of enthusiasm. He gives the kid an encouraging smile. "One more time."

"Aw, but we've been training all day," Lloyd grumbles.

"It's all to get you ready to face your father," Cole says.

"Exactly. How do you expect to save the world if you're not ready?" I ruffle Lloyd's hair. He tugs away from me and I frown.

"Now, in position," Cole directs Lloyd back to the center of the deck, and he ambles forward with a heavy sigh. It's obvious something's weighing him down, but as the boys pull down their hoods I realize I won't get any answers. I sigh and copy their movement as Lloyd faces us with a wide yawn.

"Whatever," he grumbles as he lazily gestures for us to start.

Kai lunges first, easily deflected by Lloyd with a swift punch to the stomach. He hits the ground with a slightly surprised look at being knocked down so easily, but Lloyd's attention has already shifted to Zane and Jay, who rush toward him. Cole and I exchange glances as the two leap into the air, a silent plan flashing between us. Cole rushes to the other side of Lloyd as he knocks Zane and Jay to the deck in a tornado of green energy before turning to face me. My eyes flick to Cole and he rushes forward from behind Lloyd, sending him flying into the air with a wild yell.

Lloyd crashes to the ground painfully, looking up as the ninja close in a loose circle around him.

"That was fun," he looks up at us. "Are we done?"

"Aw, come on, you're better than this!" Jay frowns as he pushes his hood out of his face. "What's on your mind?"

"You're not worried about your father, are you, Lloyd?" I ask, pulling my mask down and exposing my face to the refreshing mountain air.

"No, nothing like that," he answers as he pushes himself to his feet. He chews his lip before finally blurting out what's on his mind. "The latest issue of Starfarer just came in at Doomsday Comics and it's a limited run. So if I don't go out and get it, it's gonna sell out!"

Kai and Cole exchange exasperated glances as I chuckle down at the excited kid.

"What, did the last issue end on a cliffhanger?" I ask. Lloyd hurriedly nods as Cole gives me the "stop-encouraging-him" look. I shoot him my own.

"Last they left off, intergalactic rogue Prince Donagan was surrounded by the Imperial Sludge, and if I don't find out if he gets out alright, I think I might have my own doomsday!" Lloyd tugs at his hair.

"The fate of Ninjago rests on your shoulders," Kai frowns, and Lloyd immediately deflates. "As the green ninja, you have a giant responsibility to hold."

"Come on, guys, cut him a break," I roll my eyes as Lloyd's sad face brightens a little. "I think Lloyd deserves some time to just be a kid. Hell, _I'd_ give anything to be a kid again, if only for a while."

"That's not the point, Ash," Kai shakes his head. "Lloyd is the green ninja. If he has any chance of standing up to his father, he's going to need all the training he can get." He lets out a breath. "Even if it means missing out on some things."

Lloyd grimaces and wanders back to the side of the ship, the rest of us staring guiltily after him.

"Sorry, but you don't have time for such childish things," Kai says with another sigh.

"Other kids get to play and have fun," Lloyd grumbles as he stares at the small village passing by below. "All I ever do is train."

"Kai does have a point," I offer Lloyd a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We can help you as much as we can in the final battle, but if you're not ready we're all doomed."

I lower my face to his ear and talk low enough so the others can't hear. "Then again, we have plenty of time before that happens. Maybe once we're done with training, you and I can make a run to that comic book store."

Lloyd's eyes widen on mine just as Nya runs onto the deck in a panic, screeching to a stop in front of us.

"Guys, there's been a break-in at the Ninjago City Museum of History and the security cameras picked up You-Know-Who!"

"Voldemort?" I ask.

"Garmadon!" Cole breathes the thought everyone else had.

"Oh."

"We have to stop him before he uses the Mega Weapon to start another one of his diabolical plots!" Jay says as Lloyd detaches himself from me.

"Um," he starts, but as soon as the ninja turn to him he deflates with an irritated sigh. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't go and it's safer if I stay here and train."

The ninja nod their agreement and Lloyd curls his lip in distaste.

"We'd better get going before Garmadon escapes," Kai says before he and the other ninja rush below deck.

Nya grimaces at Lloyd. "Sorry, kiddo. I know you were excited about that comic book."

"Whatever," Lloyd grumbles in return, slumping over the railing again.

I reach out to give him another comforting hand, but then think better of it. My fingers clench tightly against my palm as I turn to Nya.

"I'll take him as soon as we get back, okay?" I glance at the small ninja. "This shouldn't take long."

"Just come back in one piece, alright?" Nya smiles. "We'll worry about comics later."

* * *

"All ready?"

I give Kai a nod. "Whenever you are," I blow a heated puff of air into my cold hands.

Kai turns up toward his sister standing on the deck some ways above us. Lloyd stands beside her and I give him an apologetic smile he halfway returns.

"We'll meet up at the Bounty as soon as we're done," Kai calls up to Nya.

"We'll be waiting for your safe return," she answers as I lift off the ground. Kai flips the hatch of the Ultrasonic Raider closed and we take off into the city. Hopefully we can get this over with quickly so I can get back to Lloyd and his comic troubles. Then again it's never that simple when it comes to Garmadon.

We don't arrive at the museum until it's already dark. The moon shines brightly through a nearly cloudless sky as we scale the museum and onto the roof, where Zane scans for a way in.

"There's an unlocked window out front," he says, pointing toward the entrance of the building. We nod in response and make our way over, being careful to stay in the shadows.

Jay grabs a loose rope from the roof and throws it over the side. Cole holds it tightly, anchoring us to the roof as the rest of us climb down to the window ledge just below us. Jay shoves open the pane, snapping the lock to lead us inside.

We make our way toward the main gallery, carefully peering into each room as we pass. I'm not sure whether or not to be grateful they're all empty.

The viewing balcony yawns ahead of us and we creep onto it with hardly a sound. Cole puts a finger to his lips as we huddle next to the railing and peer into the dark emptiness below. A few voices can be heard from nearby, and Jay hushes us another time as light floods into the room.

A group of snakes slithers into the room, led by their generals. Cole shudders a little against me, and I press a hand against his arm. They carry flashlights that are blinding in the nearly pitch-black room, and their leader, Skales, shines light on a painting of the ancient snakes.

"Boy, did they get that wrong," he snorts at the disproportionate painting. He pointedly turns his back on it as they slink toward a golden sarcophagus near the wall.

"Why would we come to a museum if we weren't going to steal anything from it?" one of the snake generals grumbles as he stares at the sarcophagus with hungry eyes.

"Because Master Garmadon has another plan to destroy the ninja," another general answers.

"_Master_ Garmadon?" Skales scowls. "He's no master of mine! Since his so-called Mega Weapon has failed every time, I don't see why we don't call our own shots!"

"Because this time, I will not fail," Garmadon suddenly appears in front of a large skeleton, making all of us jump and startling Skales enough that he drops his flashlight. The light rolls away and illuminates Garmadon and the skeleton in a melodramatic glow.

"Yes, Lord Garmadon!" all of the snakes apart from Skales immediately bow down to the imposing figure, and a few seconds later Skales also submits.

"Yes, Lord Garmadon," he grumbles as he lowers himself to the ground. Him and the other snakes pick themselves back up as Garmadon starts to speak.

"Behold, Dramasauratheropod Grundalkis," Garmadon turns and gestures to the massive skeleton behind him. He clutches his massive staff in one blackened hand, and it seems to glow in the faint light. "Otherwise known as the _Grundal_."

Spitfire moves wearily on my arm at the name, looking up at me with worried eyes that send a shiver down my spine.

"Although now extinct, in its time it was the most feared and dangerous creature in all of Ninjago; with claws that could slice through steel," Garmadon slashes his scepter through the air, "heightened senses that could detect its prey from miles away. It could track the stealthiest of ninja and once it had picked up your scent, there was no hiding from it."

"The Grundal?" Jay whispers nervously beside me. "I heard about them. Boy, am I glad we live in an age where we don't have to deal with those things."

"Thanks for the history lesson," Skales hisses from below, redirecting our attention back to the gallery. He slithers closer to Garmadon, his red eyes burning with resentment. "But what are we going to do with a pile of bones?"

"I am going to make it so the beast shall walk again," Garmadon snaps back, driving Skales back a few inches.

"Yeah, right," Skales huffs, but there's a trace of doubt in his voice. "Well… show us then!"

Garmadon turns and raises the Mega Weapon up toward the snout of the skeleton. Its empty sockets seem to spark with sinister light and Garmadon grins. "Rise, Grundal, and feel the strength of the Mega Weapon!" he shouts. "I wish to create the power to make you young! Turn back the clock so you are no longer extinct!"

A cloud of purple smoke billows up from the Mega Weapon as it sparks and shines brilliantly in the dark room, surrounding the Grundal in a swarm of darkness. "But hungry," Garmadon continues in a low voice. "Hungry for the ninja and their pesky little fire-breather."

"Oh no!" Jay springs to his feet. "He's bringing it back?"

"Not if we have any say in the matter," Zane growls as the rest of us get up.

"We'll go around back and try to cut him off," Cole's eyes flick around the room. "Ash, think you could knock it out of his hands?"

"I can sure as hell try," I answer as I pull my hood more snugly around my face. "Just say the word, captain."

Cole nods back as we spring onto the railing, catching the roomful of snakes below us by surprise. Garmadon turns around at the commotion and spots us.

"The ninja!" he shouts. "Stop them!"

The snakes brandish spears as the ninja rush away from me, still balancing on the railing as I lift from the balcony and streak in a blast of angry crimson flame toward Garmadon.

Spears shatter against the walls beside me as I dodge shafts and splinters in my attempt to make it to Garmadon's dark shape. Something crashes into me- a thick, heavy spear that throws me wildly past Garmadon and into the skeleton. I just manage to grab onto a rib before I plummet, blinking away the stars in my eyes to see Skales flash a condescending smirk. I glare back just as the ninja move onto the skeleton above me. Barely a second passes before I'm slammed by a falling body.

Zane lands halfway on top of me, trapping one of my legs beneath his as we hit the ground hard. My head cracks against the tile, thankfully ringing just a little beneath my hood. Above us, Kai dances from one foot to another as he struggles to stay upright.

"I feel pretty alone up here!" he shouts as the skeleton blazes even brighter in dark light. One of the snakes stabs at Kai's feet and he stumbles backward, twisting and throwing his blade in one smooth, lucky motion that spins and knocks the still shining Mega Weapon out of Garmadon's hands. He lands heavily on Jay, Zane, and my leg as the Mega Weapon skids to the other side of the gallery.

"Not again," Garmadon snarls. "Not again!"

"And you said it wouldn't fail," Skales sneers as Garmadon lets out a wild yell.

"Retreat!" he orders as he runs to snatch up the Mega Weapon. Zane finally untangles himself from me as Kai, Jay, and Cole start to scramble to their feet.

"I didn't mean to hit you," Zane apologizes as he helps me stand.

"Hey, no hard feelings," I grin a little twistedly back as my leg pops painfully. "Just- ah- don't do that again, okay?"

"Haha, we stopped him!" Jay cheers as our enemies flee.

"It didn't work!' Kai calls out to Garmadon, who looks back at us with a glare.

"Curse you, ninjas," he growls before he rushes out the door after his snakes.

"Haha, well, I thought we handled that well," Jay chuckles as movement catches the corner of my eye.

"Hey, wait a second-"

"Hey, hey, hey! They're trying to steal the golden sarcophagus!" Jay shouts as the four snake generals lift the massive relic and rush out a side door with it. We chase after them and into a half-lit street.

"After them!" Kai grits his teeth as he pushes himself faster. I try to spark my hands, but they fizzle out in only a few seconds. I try again, but they still won't light. That's strange. It's already been enough time since I last flew. I shake the strangeness aside and keep running, feeling my lungs shudder with exertion as I struggle to keep up with the other ninja. Ahead of us, the snakes turn a corner and disappear from sight.

The road seems to yawn endlessly in front of us, even though we're all pushing ourselves to our limits. It feels like I'm running with broken heels - jerkily, slow, and like my legs aren't nearly long enough to cover the distance. My teeth grit against each other as I try to ignore the discomfort and focus on the street ahead.

An eternity later we finally make it to the corner, heaving for breath. My mask sticks to my face, streaked with sweat, and shifts uncomfortably as I try to shift it with trembling hands. My vision is a blur of sweat and exhaustion as I glance around the corner to where the sarcophagus lies crookedly against a wall near a manhole cover. Air moves raggedly through my lungs, tugging my attention away from the botched robbery to my labored breathing.

"I can't believe we couldn't catch up to them," Jay gasps beside me, his voice high-pitched and strained from breathing so hard. "I'm usually faster than that. It's like my legs were half the size."

"I feel you," I clutch at my sides, which scream for air and strangle my voice to barely a squeak. "Are we really this out of shape?"

"I don't remember that thing being so big," Kai muses in a similar voice, his gaze still fixed on the sarcophagus. "Did it grow?"

"Or did we shrink?" Zane asks. His voice his higher pitched too, as if he's also exhausted from the running. But that's impossible. Zane never gets tired. I look up at him and suddenly find myself staring at a guy half his size.

"Uh, guys?" Kai's eyes widen on a window across the street, its panes lit with our reflection.

It's normal- the four ninja and me, but then I realize we're all… so…

"What the hell?" I scramble backward as my eyes focus on a sight I haven't seen in at least five years.

Jay rips off his hood off in a wild panic. "We shrunk!"

"We-we're kids!" Kai tugs off his hood and we all follow suit, staring at each other before bursting into wild screams.

"This isn't possible!" my jaw shudders as I stare down at tiny, trembling hands. I tug up my sleeves. "What the hell- even Spitfire!"

A thin salamander of a dragon swirls in a panic on my tiny wrists, huffing tiny smoke rings that look like Cheerios. I tug my sleeve back over him and force back the hysteria that tries to claw its way up my throat.

"Oh, this is bad!" Jay's eyes scramble between himself and his reflection. He staggers back and bumps into Kai, who nearly jumps into a fit. "This is so bad on so many levels!"

"No, it's impossible," Cole shakes his head, scattering tiny, ruffled curls that I would usually think are adorable, but now are absolutely terrifying. "We must be dreaming. Zane, tell me we're dreaming!"

"Nindroids don't dream," Zane swallows hard. His tiny jaw shifts as he struggles to piece this together- a feat I'm completely incapable of as I continue to stare at my hands. "Perhaps Garmadon succeeded in turning back the clock, but instead of reviving the Grundal it only affected us."

"Yeah, but Nindroids don't turn into kids!" Jay drives the white ninja back against the wall. "Explain that, genius!"

"I-I've extended my logic parameters, but nothing is coming up," Zane's chest heaves as his eyes scramble with electricity. "This… does not compute!"

"Okay, fine, I get it. We're all in this together," Cole takes a deep breath to calm himself, only for it to explode between his lips. "Oh, I can't be a kid again! I hated being a kid! You can't drive, nobody listens to you-" An expression of pure horror takes over his face. "Oh, oh no! BEDTIMES!"

"That's what you're worried about?" my chest heaves as a scorch of fire spurts from my clenched hands. "Do you even understand what's just happened? The last time I was like this _I burned my entire village to the ground_ and that was without Spitfire! Who knows what I'm capable of now that I'm-!"

The nearest streetlight explodes above us, scattering the ninja as a shower of glass cascades out into the street in crash of light and sound. Weary eyes find mine as I suck in a deep breath and struggle to calm my pounding heart. A few scattered, wild flames spark from my clenched hands, but I manage to keep the nauseating fire within me under control. Barely.

"We have to get this fixed," I sip another scorching breath. "But until then, no one can upset me. Alright?"

The ninja carefully nod as I take another deep breath and hold my hands a little tighter to my sides, forcing myself to think happy, calming thoughts.

"I told Nya we'd meet back at the Bounty," Jay says as he looks up at the nearest street sign, looking for some bearings to lead us back to the ship. "I'm sure Sensei will know what to do."

The blare of police sirens slices through the air as a squad car suddenly squeals onto the street in front of us, turning wildly to engulf us in its brilliant headlights. Kai scrambles back against me, shielding his eyes as I struggle to blink away the sudden explosion of color under my eyelids. Fire sputters around my hands and Zane quietly extinguishes it by pushing my arm against the wall.

"Well, well, what do we got here?" one of two cops sneers at us as they emerge from the cruise. "Looks like we got our culprits to the museum heist. Who would've thought it was just a bunch of brats? What do you got on, apple dumpling gang? Pajamas?"

He and the other cop roar with laughter.

"These aren't pajamas!" Jay huffs from beside me. "We're ninja!"

"Yeah, yeah, and I'm Santa Claus," the second cop rolls his eyes.

Kai growls and I just manage to flatten myself against the wall before Jay, Zane, and Cole are tugged into his clumsy spinjitsu tornado and thrown lopsidedly onto the hood of the cruiser.

"Our spinjitsu doesn't work!" Kai gasps as he staggers to a stop beside me. "We're too small!"

"Easy, kiddo," the second cop grabs Cole from the hood and reaches for me and Kai. "You're coming with us to the precinct."

"Look, officers, this has been a great misunderstanding," Kai tries to bargain with them. "My friends and I are simply trying to help out-"

"Hey, you can tell all the stories you want when we return to the museum tomorrow to explain why you stole this."

"But we didn't steal it!"

"Zip it," the cop snaps as he shoves him and Cole into the back of the car before turning to me. "I wonder what your father will say when he finds out you've been running around with a bunch of boys in the middle of the night."

"Look, I know it's hard to believe- impossible to believe really- but they really are the ninja, and I'm the Dragon Queen of Ninjago," I pull up my sleeve and show the officer Spitfire's less than intimidating form. "I know it isn't much right now, but this is undeniable proof that I'm-"

"You even have a tattoo," the cop grabs me by the back of suit, strangling my words into a high-pitched squeak. "I pity your poor parents." He then throws me unceremoniously into the car, where I land heavily on top of Cole and Kai, who yelps as my hands burn a hole in his suit.

"You have the right to remain silent," the second cop growls at us.

"Kids," the first cop rolls his eyes as the doors slam shut and they climb back into the front.

"Guys, what are we going to do?" Jay whispers as the car starts to move.

"Don't worry, as soon as we don't come home Nya and Sensei will come and look for us," Kai says as he and Cole struggle to make room for me.

"Yeah, but they'll be looking for teenagers, not little kids," Cole shakes his head. "I don't know, guys, but it looks like we're stuck."

"Maybe when they call our parents they'll realize who we are."

"Jay, they didn't believe us when Kai attempted spinjitsu or when I showed them Spitfire. What makes you think they'd believe our parents?" I growl as I manage to find a seat sandwiched between the two ninja.

"Hey, quiet back there!" the first cop shouts back at us. A stray flame sparks from my left hand, but I don't extinguish it.

"Maybe I can use my power a little," I whisper, my eyes fixed on the rude cops. Jay's eyes widen.

"Maybe we can find another way out of this," Cole touches my arm and gives me a pointed look. I stifle the flames with a grumble. "I mean, all we have to do is apologize for stealing the stuff, right? Once we do that we'll be free to go. I mean, it's not like they'll put us in jail or anything."

"Cole does have a point," Kai says. "We're just kids- they'll just let us off with a warning."

"Then we just have to find Nya and Sensei," Jay adds. "No stress, no craziness, no chances of being burned to a crisp."

A smile quirks my lips. "Only a small chance if we get out of this okay."

"Then it's agreed," Kai says, and everyone nods. "Operation False Confession is a go."

* * *

"We're sorry for stealing," we say as we lower ourselves to the ground in front of the museum curator. Zane hesitates, staring down at us in confusion.

"But we didn't," he says. "I don't understand."

"Ssh!" Kai waves him down in a harsh whisper. "We discussed this already! The quicker we get out of here the faster we can figure out how to return our bodies back to normal!"

Zane blinks and finally throws himself on the ground next to us. "I'm sorry for stealing, too!"

"Thank you, children, for returning the sarcophagus. You did the right thing," the curator nods. "But what about the bones?"

"Uh, what bones?" Jay asks as he lifts himself to his knees. "We didn't steal any bones."

"The Grundal bones."

"The Grundal bones?" Jay echoes as he follows the curator's outstretched arm toward the center of the gallery.

The skeleton's stand stares emptily back at us.

A strangled gasp explodes from Jay's lips. "They're gone!" he turns toward us, lowering his voice so only we can hear. "You don't think-"

"It just walked out of here?"

"Theoretically, it is possible that if Garmadon successfully reversed the years on us, he reversed the years on the Grundal and brought it back to life," Zane says, and an ice cube rolls down my back.

"No," the other four of us shake our heads as Jay turns to plead to the curator.

"You guys have to believe us!" he cries. "The Grundal's been brought back to life and it's on the loose! Its whole existence is to hunt down ninja and as long as we're here everyone's at risk!"

The three adults just laugh as the cops force us back onto a bench to the side of the gallery.

"Well, we'll keep a good look out for anything that goes bump in the night, okay?" the second cop chuckles. "Now, you five sit still until we call your parents to come pick you up." He and the other officer then walk off, still chuckling to themselves about 'our generation'.

"We gotta get out of here," Cole grimaces, his coffee-colored eyes flicking around the gallery for some way of escape. "Like, now."

A crowd of kids clamors by behind us, following a teacher on a tour around the museum and chattering excitedly to each other as they pass through an arch and into the next exhibit. Kai turns to us with a plan sparking in his eyes.

"Follow my lead," he whispers as we get off the bench and run off after the tour.

Some of the kids have bags with extra clothes hanging out the sides, and they don't even turn as we tug them out and pull them on over our own. I end up in a baggy, girl's sweater with some pop icon plastered on the front surrounded with bright pink lettering. It takes all my willpower not to trade it in for something else.

"Ugh, this is so humiliating," Jay whines as he looks down at his blue butterfly shirt.

"It's only temporary, right?" I tear my gaze away from my hideous outfit. I make the mental note to burn it the first chance I get. "Besides, our first problem is that skeleton."

Zane nods. "I'm afraid if we can't use our spinjitsu, we'll be no match for the Grundal."

"Then we have to get back to the Bounty," Kai says. "Before that thing finds us."

"Agreed," I nod. "We all heard what Garmadon said. If that thing finds us, it's game over-"

The heat inside me jerks and I tug it back with a sharp breath that scorches my throat.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I grimace back at Cole. "Just- uh- imagining the fight of our lives wasn't a good idea. Let's just get this fixed pronto, alright? I hate feeling like a ticking time bomb."

We follow the tour out of the museum, doing our best to blend in before we finally break away and take off down the street. Someone shouts something after us, but we ignore them as we run down the sidewalk and away from the museum.

"There's a bus stop up ahead," Kai calls back. I'm starting to get a better feel for the limitations my tiny legs bring, and I'm able to breathe easier than I could last night. Still, the rapid movement kindles the heat in my stomach, and I struggle to swallow it. "We should be able to get on it and head back to the Bounty. Cole, do you still have bus tokens?"

"Yeah," Cole digs into his pockets and tugs out a few bronze tokens.

We turn a corner where a towering bus hovers to let riders on. We fall in behind the last person and climb the steps together, letting Cole go first to put the token in the box. But the driver puts his hand over the coin slot and gives us a scrutinizing look.

"Do you have a signed bus pass?"

"Bus pass?" Cole blinks.

"You need a signed permission slip from your parents to ride without adult supervision," the driver answers. "Sorry, kiddos, but if you don't have a pass, you don't ride."

He shoos us off the bus before taking off into the city traffic, leaving Cole to replace the token in his pocket and for us to come up with a new plan.

"There has to be something kids can do around here!" Jay huffs as we linger on the curb.

I notice something over his shoulder and point it out. "Could we use the payphone?" T

The ninja follow my outstretched hand to the phone booth just down the street.

"Do any of us have coins to spare?" Jay asks as we all dig in our pockets.

"A little," Kai says as he holds out a handful of dusty coins, which Jay takes gratefully.

"Looks like enough," Cole nods.

"Okay, so we'll call the Bounty and get Sensei and Nya to come pick us up," Jay says as we start to make our way toward the payphone.

"Sounds like a plan," I nod.

We crowd around the small booth before Jay turns to us. "Alright, Kai and Cole- give me a boost so I can call," Jay says.

"Zane and I will keep watch," I add. "I'm sure the cops have noticed we're gone by now."

"Good idea," Kai nods as he, Jay, and Cole enter the booth. They each hold one of Jay's feet in their hands as they hoist him up to the phone. His knees shudder a little with the sudden shift of balance, but he manages to keep his footing. He slides in the coins into the payphone and dials the operator.

"Collect call, please!" he says into the phone as Cole and Kai wobble slightly beneath him. He gives them a pointed look. "Keep me steady."

A few seconds of silence pass before Jay finally gets a connection.

"Lloyd, it's Jay!" he almost shouts into the phone. "Let me talk to Sensei!"

Jay goes silent for a few more seconds as Lloyd answers, then he rolls his eyes. "Apparently you need parental permission to take the bus and we can't seem to get out of the city!" he shakes his head. "Ugh, never mind, it's a bit complicated. Just meet us at Buddy's Pizza in ten minutes! And bring our weapons!"

Jay hangs up the phone and clambers down from Cole and Kai's grasp before they exit the booth.

"Lloyd's coming to help us," he explains.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cole grimaces. "Couldn't we just wait until Sensei gets back?"

"We're sitting ducks out here without weapons," Jay answers. "Besides, Lloyd's spinjitsu actually works."

I grimace. "Jay, the Grundal is a monster that _hunts ninja_. We're putting Lloyd in extreme danger-"

"Garmadon wouldn't hurt him," Kai shakes his head. "He's safer than any of us. If anything, he might be our best shot of beating this thing."

I let out a breath. "I hope you're right, Kai. I _really _hope you're right."

* * *

"Really, of all places we could meet, you pick this place?" Cole grumbles at Jay, who shrugs back.

"What? I like their pizza!"

I sit up as a small shape lumbers by us. Well, small to my older self. I elbow Cole. "It's him!"

Kai blinks and tries to wave the kid down. "Psst! Lloyd!"

Lloyd turns, but his grey eyes don't register who we are. Instead, he snorts at us. "Beat it, brat, I'm on a mission." He shifts the weapons in his arms and starts to walk away, but Kai turns him back toward us.

"It's me! Kai!"

Lloyd blinks in surprise, giving us another scrutinizing look before letting out a wild gasp and dropping everything in his arms.

"Whoa, what happened? You're uh, uh, small!"

Everyone in the restaurant turns at Lloyd's outburst, and Kai glares at the kid.

"Keep it down!" Kai hisses. "We're trying to lay low! Your father's Mega Weapon not only turned us into kids, but unleashed a creature whose sole purpose is to hunt down ninja!"

"Typical Garmadon," Cole smashes a small fist against the table.

"And now every time we try to tell someone, they won't believe us!" Jay grumbles as Lloyd starts to pick up the weapons he dropped. "Because we're kids!"

Lloyd starts to straighten up, then starts laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kai growls.

"Well, I guess you now know what it feels like to be treated differently," Lloyd snorts as he throws the weapons onto the table.

"Look, this is serious," Zane glowers, his own ice-blue eyes narrowed with frustration. "If we don't turn big so we can use our spinjitsu, we don't stand a chance against the Grundal!"

"Not to mention princess here is set to explode at any minute!" Jay says, and I shoot him a pointed look that sends another wave of heat into my hands. "No offense."

"_All_ of our powers are compromised," I turn back to Lloyd. "It's like Zane said- even with weapons, we're hardly a match for the Grundal."

"Well, what about me?" Lloyd offers. "I know spinjitsu."

"Yeah, but you don't know the Grundal," Kai shakes his head. "We all need to be at full strength. What we need to do first is to find someone who might know more about how to defeat one of those things."

"Where do we even look?" I ask. "We can't go back to the museum- they've probably put out a bounty on us by now."

Lloyd's grey eyes flick around the restaurant, then suddenly grow wide as something behind us catches his attention.

"Ugh, Lloyd, focus!" Cole growls at the distracted kid.

"I am," Lloyd grins as he turns back to us. "I think I know just the guy. Follow me."

Lloyd starts to leave the restaurant and we all exchange glances.

"Well, it's not like we have anything better to do," I shake my head and start to leave the booth. "Come on."

The boys grab their weapons and start to follow, but Jay hesitates.

"Aw, but we haven't gotten our pizza yet!"

Kai rolls his eyes and returns to retrieve the blue ninja, grasping his sleeve to drag him from the restaurant. Out on the street, I run to catch up to Lloyd and fall into step beside him. A frown tugs my lips as I realize I'm shorter than him.

"Where are we going?" I ask, shaking the new fact aside.

"You'll see," he grins back. "You know, it's funny to see you guys down on my level."

"For you, maybe," I shake my head and feel the heat inside me churn uncomfortably. "This has been nothing but hell for me. All this time learning to control myself and now I'm back at stage one. The sooner we're back to normal, the better."

Lloyd waggles blond eyebrows. "Didn't you say this morning that you'd love to be a kid again?"

I hit him in the arm, but he just laughs as my tiny hand smacks into him. "As soon as I'm bigger, you're getting quite the beating, Lloyd Garmadon."

"Yeah, yeah, cool it, pint-size," he snickers back, earning another glare from me.

We walk another block before Lloyd leads us to a building marked "Ninjago Doomsday Comix". Zane gives me a dubious look as we follow him inside and into the small store.

"You brought us to a comic book store?" Cole gives Lloyd an exasperated look.

"Trust me," the kid says as he starts to lead us to the back. "If there's anyone who knows how to defeat a monster that doesn't exist, I know just the person to talk to."

"We're not going to pick up your stupid comic, Lloyd!" Kai growls, grabbing the kid's arm before he can go too far. "This is serious business!"

Jay suddenly gasps from behind us. "Oh, look! A first edition Daffy Dale!" he brandishes a comic. "I used to love that nut growing up!"

He laughs excitedly before noticing our expressions, then coughs instead. "So juvenile," he tsks as Lloyd shakes his head and starts to lead us back toward the counter.

"Fellas, meet Rufus McAllister," Lloyd gestures to the man sitting behind the desk. "AKA, Mother Doomsday."

"Well, if it isn't Lloyd Hemorrhoid Garmadon," Rufus greets Lloyd with a crooked grin. "Sorry if you came looking for the latest Starfarer. I'm all sold out."

"Wha- sold out?" Lloyd's strangled gasp dies under a careful cough. "Oh, actually, Mother Doomsday, we need help."

The man rests thick arms on the counter. "Well color me intrigued."

"We have a problem," Lloyd says. "There's a Grundal on the loose and we need to know how to deal with it."

"Ah, a theoretical question," Rufus nods appreciatively.

"Uh, yeah, theoretical," Lloyd grimaces. "Can you help?"

Rufus' head disappears behind the counter as he slips from his tall chair and steps out from behind the counter.

"Dramasauratheropod Grundalikis, hoo!" he whistles between his teeth as he walks toward a nearby rack of comic books, all plastered with bright-colored depictions of a vicious monster. "Although extinct, there have been a plethora of film, television, and comics exploring the mythology around the primordial predator. Supposedly, they always get their prey."

"Sounds like he knows his stuff," Kai whispers to the rest of us.

"Can it be stopped?" Lloyd asks.

"First thing you need to know is its thick shell-like hide is invincible to swords, scythes, nunchucks, throwing stars, and fire," Rufus answers. "So your cheap imitations will do nothing but slow him down."

A frustrated breath explodes from Cole's lips. "Swell."

"Second of all," Rufus continues. "It's nocturnal and will only hunt at night."

"Oh, good, it's still daylight," Jay sighs in relief. "So we can relax for a bit."

Rufus gives us a confused look and Kai coughs, giving Jay a pointed look.

"Uh, I meant theoretically."

"And the only way to defeat it is with light," Rufus leads our gazes to a display case on the wall filled with slim light swords. "Like a vampire, with enough of it, it can potentially destroy him. If I had my weapons of choice, may I recommend the Illumisword."

He pries open the display case. "These are authentic replicas that will come in handy were you to live long enough to face a Grundal.

"And if swords are your thing," He points to the opposite end of the store where another display case holds exact replicas of our outfits, but in smaller sizes. "Maybe I can interest you in authentic ninja gear, signed by the very ninja who saved the city. Next to them is an exact replica of the outfit owned by the Queen of Ninjago herself, handmade by its original creator, of course. It also comes with a semi-permanent dragon tattoo if you're a fan."

"Uh, we'll just take the light swords," Kai reaches out to their display case, but his hand snatched by Rufus.

"Not so fast," the comic seller shakes his head, scattering his ponytail like a fishing lure. "This Starfarer combo pack can only be won in the Prince Donagan Tribute Battle Royale." He gestures to the opposite side of the store where a group of other kids chatter excitedly to each other. "Do you have what it takes to be the best?"

Something flickers in Lloyd's grey eyes, and I tug sharply on his sleeve. "You haven't read the last comic-"

"You can do this, Lloyd," Jay claps a small hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

Lloyd returns the grin, and I feel my heat churn. "Sign me up!"

* * *

"It's down to the final two!" Rufus announces with a flourish of his meaty hands. "This question is for Lloyd."

"Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd!"

Rufus casts squinty brown eyes on the small ninja. "What is Prince Donagan's famous catchphrase?"

Lloyd thinks for a second, staring down from the small stage before he lifts his chin. "Fair? Fair is not a word from where _I _come from."

"Correct!" Rufus nods before turning to the audience. "We're all tied up."

The crowd erupts in cheers around us, and I let out the breath I've been holding for hours.

"Just one more question," I take a deep breath. "He just has to answer one more question."

Zane's cool eyes reflect anything but relief. "It's getting dark," he reports, his voice muted under the audience's shouts. "The Grundal will be on the prowl soon."

"Don't worry," Kai gives him a reassuring smile. "I've got faith Lloyd can win those Illumiswords."

Jay slurps beside me as he digs into his fifth stick of cotton candy, earning yet another disapproving look from Kai.

"Is this really the best time to be eating cotton candy?"

"It makes me feel young," Jay sticks his tongue out at him. "Deal with it."

"Final question!" Rufus announces, pulling our attention back to the competition. "The first person to answer this will win!"

He turns to Lloyd and his rival, a kid just a little younger than him. Or us as we are now. Rufus' voice quiets into a theatrical hush. "In the latest issue of Starfarer, how did Prince Donagan escape the Imperial Sludge?"

Lloyd's eyes go wide as he scrambles for an answer. "Uh- it- uh- but I haven't read the latest issue!"

My face sinks into my hands as the other kid answers with a grin, "By reversing the polarity of the ship's gravity transducer!"

"We have a winner!"

The audience around us bursts into wild cheers and applause as the ninja and I exchange disappointed glances and the lights suddenly go out.

The room goes completely silent.

"Who shut off the power?"

Rufus is answered as the sign outside the building explodes, spraying a show of sparks as it crashes to the sidewalk. The crowd screams and suddenly compresses to the back of the store.

"It's here," Kai breaths, his voice even smaller with terror.

Rufus' terrified gaze turns to the tiny red ninja. "What's here?"

"You know that theoretical discussion we had earlier?" Jay chuckles nervously as a dark shape moves onto the roof above us.

A massive, scaled foot crushes the glass beneath it, followed closely by its pair before glowing, electric blue eyes fix on us. A primal roar rips through the comic store, nearly tearing through our eardrums as we finally face the monster that hunts us.

"Grundal!" Rufus screams as he and the rest of the crowd scramble to the back of the store.

"We've got to get out of here!" Zane shouts and the six of us rush toward the door.

Zane reaches it first and tugs on the handle, but the fallen sign outside leans heavily against it. "The door is jammed," Zane says as he struggles to shove past the sign. "We can't get out!"

"It's coming!" Jay shouts, and we turn as the Grundal chases after us from above, its glowing blue eyes fixed entirely on us. Its foot suddenly crashes through a pane of glass, dangling hopelessly for a second before the ceiling gives way and the giant creature lands in a shower of broken metal and glass in front of us.

The people in the back of the room let out screams of panic as the Grundal's tail sweeps over them, and despite my terror I find myself stepping forward and raising my arm.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Kai demands hysterically. "It's invincible!"

"It's afraid of light, isn't it?" I gasp back, squeezing my eyes shut and finally letting the heat in my stomach go.

There's a spark and a sudden explosion as I'm blown backward into the ninja. One of them catches me as bright spots burst under my eyelids, followed by a surge of energy that threatens to explode from my body. The Grundal reels, at the sudden burst of light, crashing into the outfit display case behind it as it struggles to regain its senses.

"You okay?" Kai's voice asks somewhere near my head and I manage a nod.

"I think so," I shake my head to disperse the spots that cloud my vision. Uncontrollable streaks of flame spurt from my fingertips, and I tug the fire back as hard as I can, wincing as my temples sting with the exertion. "But was the last of my control."

"Quick, this way!" Jay yells and I'm pulled somewhere to the left. I force my feet to move after the ninja's shapes, focusing on them until they slowly start to solidify into actual figures.

We come to a stop near the back of the store. Jay gulps as he faces the terrifying monster, and Cole turns to me and Lloyd with a grimace.

"Lloyd, take Ash and find somewhere to hide!" he orders. "We'll take care of this."

Lloyd nods and a different warmth fills my hand as he leads me toward the comic counter, pulling me behind its tall shadow and shielding us from the impending fight.

"Okay, all we have to do is stay calm," he says, though I can't tell if he's talking to me or himself.

"What's happening?" I ask him as a thousand fighting noises erupt from beyond the counter. Each sound sends a new surge of heat through my body, and it's all I can do not to explode. I focus even harder on holding it back, gasping as my head throbs even more, but fighting to see what's going on.

Lloyd peeks around the counter for a second before slumping back beside me. "The swords aren't doing anything!" he growls. "They need my help!"

"Lloyd-" I reach out a hand to stop him before something heavy jars the counter at my shoulder, knocking me off balance for a second and letting a wide flurry of flames suddenly escape from my fingertips. I shove my hands into my pockets and can only watch as Lloyd pulls what looks like his hood over his face and clambers onto Rufus' stool. There's a low snarl from beyond the counter, and suddenly I can hear the terrified screams of the four ninja. Lloyd struggles with the chair and I know I have to move.

I roll out from behind the counter and allow a burst of flame to spiral toward the massive shape in the middle of the room, relieving my head for a few seconds before I pull it back and collapse against the ninja. I gasp for breath as I replace the vice over my power and stare directly at the Grundal and its every terrifying detail.

It leans its head down toward us, opening its wide, cavernous mouth to reveal rows of saber-like teeth that drip poison. The ninja let out a new wave of terrified screams just as another shape appears above us.

"Not to worry, I'll take care of this!" Lloyd shouts as we all turn up to see him.

He concentrates and a ball of blazing green energy lights up the room, sending the Grundal back with a piercing scream that rattles the walls. My body starts to relax as the others cheer from beside me, but then the Grundal's tail swings at us from nowhere, shoving the counter back against the wall and sending us flying into it.

My head slams into something hard and everything flashes with color. My consciousness slips, but I clamp down on it and force myself to stay awake. I blink to readjust my eyes and find myself looking again into the throat of the Grundal.

"This is the end, isn't it?" Kai whimpers as he flattens himself against the wall.

Cole's hand clutches mine, squeezing tight enough for me to scorch his cuffs as I force myself to take a deep breath and raise my other hand.

His eyes widen. "Ash, don't-!"

The door suddenly crashes open and Nya and Sensei rush in. They scan the room quickly before turning their attention to the people cowering in the back.

"Everyone out!" Nya orders, and they immediately comply- evacuating the store as Sensei turns to us.

"Use this!" he shouts as he raises a jar and tosses it to Jay, who narrowly catches it.

"What is it?" Jay asks as we retreat up the angled counter, struggling to put distance between us and the Grundal.

"It will turn forward the hands of time!" Sensei yells back. "Turning you old and reducing the Grundal back to dust and bones! But be careful, there's no turning back!"

"Grundal, prepare to be extinct!" Jay crows, waving the jar at the monster's dripping snout.

"Wait!" Cole lets go of my hand and steps in front of Jay, shoving his barely-working light sword into the Grundal's face to hold it back. "What'll happen to Lloyd? He'll grow old too!"

My chest halts as I turn to look at the kid slumped against the wall behind us. He scowls back. "Just do it!"

"You'll miss out on the rest of your childhood, dude," Jay grimaces.

"We can't do that to you!" Kai shakes his head.

"You have to!"

"Lloyd, I had my childhood ripped away from me by forces I couldn't control!" I shout, feeling the heat inside me bubble with my rising pulse. "I won't let the same thing happen to you!"

The Grundal slashes at Cole's sword, swatting away into the store and leaving us completely defenseless. Its blazing blue eyes scorch into us with a fire of their own as it growls and snaps at us with its powerful jaws. Jay staggers back, knocking the rest of us into the wall and sending the jar flying high into the air.

I crash to the ground beside Lloyd before I'm trapped by Cole's falling body. The jar spirals above us with dramatic slowness before in the small ninja's lap. His grey eyes narrow as his jaw shifts and he starts to get his feet.

"Lloyd, don't do it," I gasp as I read his face. I struggle to breathe as Cole scrambles to shift in the tiny space. "I swear, Lloyd, I will never forgive you-"

He doesn't stop, and I feel the heat inside me threaten to explode as my eyes fill with scalding tears. "Lloyd, stop! Please! It isn't fair!"

"Fair?" he turns a softened smirk on me. "Fair isn't a word from where I come from."

Lloyd fixes his grey gaze on the Grundal, his jaw setting as he throws the jar directly into the Grundal's face. The glass shatters and explodes in a cloud of thick, suffocating, purple smoke.

The world around me erupts in a hurricane of swirling wind and screeching noise as I'm suddenly lifted from the ground with a scream. I'm tossed around in a wide, fast circle, like I'm riding an out-of-control-carousel that whips my breath away and strangles the blazing inferno within me. The clamp over my mind suddenly lifts, and everything seem to grow smaller around me before I'm suddenly thrown unceremoniously to the ground.

My chest fills with grateful air as I open my eyes to a familiar scaled face on my arm, twirling happily and puffing smoke. I slowly get to my feet, my head still spinning from the wild ride as I glance around at the decimated store and the older figures standing next to me.

"What happened?" Cole asks in a deeper, more familiar voice. His eyes widen on his larger hands. "We're not kids anymore!"

"It worked!" Nya cries happily as the dust slowly starts to clear.

"They… are the real ninja," Rufus gasps reverently as he looks up at us. Where he hid during the fight, I have no idea, but I have to respect his devotion to the small comic book store.

"But what about Lloyd?" Sensei asks just as I spot a familiar green shape huddled on the ground. I race toward it, falling to my knees beside him as I shove aside a thick piece of broken furniture to reveal…

"Oh no," I stagger back, scrambling to get back on my feet but failing miserably as my heels slide over shards of glass and scattered comics. The others step back as Lloyd slowly gets to his feet, moaning as his much longer legs unfold beneath him. I can feel my heart struggling to beat in my chest as he finally straightens up, shoving soft, white-blond curls aside to reveal an older, angular face that scrunches with confusion and discomfort.

"I'm… older," Lloyd mutters in a voice much different than the one I'm used to. My stomach churns with something other than fire.

His soft grey eyes fix on me, and my breath strangles in my throat as I finally find my footing and get to my feet. He's taller than me now- taller than any of us- and looking up at him nearly makes me scream.

"How could you," my voice is flat, smaller than it was even when I was a kid, and I only shrink more as Lloyd's face twists into a familiar grimace. "Do you realize what you've done?"

He takes a step toward me, and I shuffle back one. He pauses, his new, longer fingers tightening against his palms as he takes a deep breath. "I know you're upset-"

"Upset?" my voice cracks. "Lloyd, you just- you just threw your childhood away. Years of your life- gone in just a couple of seconds-"

"I gave up my childhood a while ago, Ash," his lips quirk into a sad smile, and I clench my eyes shut as I glimpse the little kid I fought with only a few minutes ago. "The second I became the green ninja, I gave it up. This just… makes it official."

"The time for the green ninja to face his destiny has grown nearer," Sensei says solemnly, but Lloyd's gaze doesn't leave me even as I turn away from him, my mind still scrambling to make sense of… all this. Instead, he takes a deep breath.

"I'm ready."


	10. The Dragon King

_Hello and thanks for reading :) This chapter and the next are going to be original story, so if things are a little confusing I'll do my best to clear things up. Don't hesitate to leave a review and I am always open to new ideas! _

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

When I open my eyes I expect to find myself in the dark throne room that has been the home to my training sessions for the past few months. Instead, I sit before a small, still pool surrounded by open grass and a ring of trees. A cold breeze brushes against my exposed neck, sending a shiver down my spine and welcoming me to this new, beautiful place. But besides it and the pool, I'm alone. I stand up, bright green grass flattening softly beneath my feet, and look around. But all I see is swaying grass and tall trees.

"Hello?" I call out, looking for any sign of movement in the trees. "Stella? Are you there?"

A gasp of wind like heavy breathing answers me, echoing through the clearing as a grim cloud covers the sun overhead and throws the clearing into gray darkness. My heart picks up a little, but I force myself to stay calm and focus. I take a deep breath and light one of my hands, holding it out and casting a protective, warm halo around me.

"Who's there?" I call out again. "Show yourself!"

Something gurgles to life behind me, and I barely turn before I'm crushed beneath a wall of water. I crash to the ground, spluttering as water streams from my mouth and eyes, but my fire's still alive. Weaker, but alive. Spitfire swirls on my wrist and stares up at me with questioning eyes, but I can't give him any answers. I look up, back toward the woods, when another wave slams into me. I push back in an explosion of fire, engulfing the world in the screaming hiss of blistering steam that shrouds the air in deeper darkness. The fire quickly evaporates the water from my body as I scramble to my feet.

"Is that all you got?" I shout into the gray fog. "You're going to need more than that to extinguish me-"

An ear-splitting roar sends me staggering, and I whirl around just as a column of water emerges from the tiny pool. It looms menacingly over my head, growing taller and taller as I watch its crest mold into what looks like a serpent's head- no- more like a-

"Dragon," my breath strangles in my throat as it blasts another tremulous roar. Its liquid scales rattle with force from its cry, and I finally find my footing. I take off toward the trees, my feet slipping and twisting as I struggle to escape across the soggy earth.

The dragon screams one more time before it drops toward me, it wings unfurling to reveal an enormous wave of a body. I let out a scream as it overtakes me in a fountain of water.

I just manage to take a quick breath of air before my world turns blue and I'm sent tumbling head over heels. My lungs are screaming by the time my body finally hits the earth and my head emerges from the water in a pop of sound and color. I cough up a torrent of water that scorches my nose and throat, but I'm alive. Spitfire twirls on my arm, looking dazed but alright.

I sit up on my knees and watch as the excess water streams away from me and back toward the now empty pool. It fills the gaping hole all the way to the top, and in a few seconds the clearing is back the way it was when I got here. Minus my dripping clothes and exhaustion.

"What the hell-"

Spitfire's grip tightens on my wrist as I carefully approach the now-still pool. I lean forward and look into the water, halfway expecting to see the dragon's face glaring up at me again, but instead I meet my own reflection. I look soggy and exhausted with my hair matted and clumped all over my head, but as I start to pull the grass and mud from my hair I notice another reflection in the water. This one definitely isn't me.

I scramble back as my eyes find a man who towers over me, a phantom that blinked out of nowhere. I stagger to my feet and raise a flaming hand.

"Who are you?" I ask, my chest still heaving from the attack.

The man just stares back at me, his watery blue eyes curious, but unyielding. The wind stirs a few strands of blond hair into his young face, but he doesn't move to brush them away. He's wearing dark blue robes like some movie wizard, though he looks more like a college student.

"Did you hear me?" I clear my throat and speak with more force. "Who are you?"

A smile quirks his lips, but he still doesn't answer. Instead, he begins to raise an arm, making me stiffen, but instead of attacking he gestures to the pool.

I swallow my fear, taking a deep breath as I let my gaze slip to the pool. I stagger back with a stifled scream as I'm faced with an entirely different reflection.

My face stares back at me, but the eyes are too red- the hair longer, flared, and wild as a flame. My reflection wears blazing red clothes clenched beneath obsidian armor that gleams like black ice, but swells smoothly with each inhale. I'm captivated by the me that isn't me, and as I reach out a hand toward it, I notice the other reflection has changed too.

The man in the water is wearing a similar outfit except in shades of blue and silver, and the high collar tousles his lighter hair in delicate waves. My eyes widen as the water stirs and the dragon reappears, this time coiled around the man's wrist. Realization dawns and my gaze flashes to the man above me.

"You're Whim," I breathe, and he nods with a smile. "You're the-"

"King of Water," he finally greets me in a strong, yet quiet, voice. "And you are the Queen of Fire. It is an honor to finally meet you."

"That dragon that attacked me… it's yours?" I ask, glancing at his serpent's glowing sapphire eyes. Spitfire whirs in his own low purr.

"Yes," Whim nods again. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but I had to do a simple test. Stella has told me much about you, and I wanted to see how much of it was true."

"Oh," I grimace, remembering my earlier terrified sprint for cover.

He smiles warmly. "Don't fret, I didn't expect you to face Sylia without fear, at least not before you'd been taught. We still have much work to do if you are ever going to achieve your final form."

"My final form?" I glance back at my strange reflection in the pond. "Is… that what this is?"

Whim nods in response. "As Stella has told you, you hold a power wielded only by the first Spinjitsu Master. It is a grave responsibility capable of changing the course of this world. Just as I have before you and Ria and Oberon before me, you must be ready to transform yourself not only in body, but in mind to face the evil that threatens Ninjago."

I grimace. "Am I really the best person to handle all of this? I mean, I know it's what I was born to do, but-"

"You are afraid, and rightfully so," Whim says, his eyes softening on mine. "We have all gone through our share of struggles, and for you to face what you have at so young an age- we are all impressed. But to quell your doubts, you will not be alone through this journey. You have your family and your friends to see you to the end."

He chuckles softly. "If it helps, none of us ever thought we were ready either. You should have seen me when Oberon tried to convince me of my destiny," he shakes his head. "In the end I managed to scrap myself together and help seal Garmadon away."

I blink. "You helped Sensei trap Garmadon in the Underworld?"

He nods. "I understand why he would not tell you. The experience was… traumatic, to say the least."

"So that was your mission- to stop Garmadon from taking over the world?"

"Yes," he nods. "It seems we dragons tend to have a talent in opening passages to the Underworld."

I shake my head at the memory of opening the portal that swallowed Desmond, and nearly me, into the land of darkness. "What about the others you mentioned? Oberon and Ria?"

"Oberon buried the snakes beneath the sands to prevent full-scale war. Ria, well. She is certainly the enigma."

"Enigma?"

"She lived during an era of peace, gave birth to her child, and passed from this world without ever achieving her complete form," he answers. "For being the child of the Phoenix Queen, her journey was uneventful, to say the least. She continues to help oversee and train our younger generations, but why she was born a dragon without need… It's a question we have tried to answer for centuries."

"So she didn't do… whatever I'm going to do."

Whim shakes his head. "She never had need to. However, I'm afraid that is not an option for you. As the last dragon of the cycle, whatever purpose you have been born for must be greater than even ours."

"That sounds…"

"Terrifying?" he sighs. "Yes, I understand. But we have time. Time for you to prepare for when you travel to the home of our ancestors and receive the ultimate power of the dragon. Before that, however, you must learn to accept your power."

"Accept it?" I echo. "But I already have. I mean, I'm not afraid of it anymore."

"You might not fear yourself as you did before, but you still hesitate to trust your familiar," Whim's watery blue eyes narrow on mine. "You could have unleashed your power and defeated me easily, and yet you ran."

"I've always been… nervous of water."

"Why?"

"Because…" I take a deep breath. "I can't swim?"

"You are afraid because you still believe you can be extinguished," he answers for me. "You fear for your familiar and for your power because you believe it will be taken from you."

"I never really… thought of it that way."

Whim smiles kindly. "Then consider this the beginning of your training. Can anyone extinguish you, as a person?"

"Well, no. I guess not," I shake my head. "But-"

"But nothing," he says. "You and your familiar are one and the same. He will not falter if you do not. Teach yourself to believe that, realize that you are your own greatest strength. This will be our first exercise together. Whenever you come here, you can expect to be attacked the same way you were today until you can defeat me."

"Defeat you? But you're already a dragon-" I stop when he gives me a pointed look. "But that's the point, isn't it?"

He nods. "I may seem an unconquerable enemy, but weren't you the one who fought Desmond and banished him to the Underworld?" he raises an eyebrow. "You have the ability, Ash. You just have to believe in it."

I blink. "You don't call me Iris?" I ask. "I thought all of you called me by my old name. At least, my dad and Stella do."

"You may have been born Iris, daughter of Lindell, but you chose to change it," he answers. "Your name reflects who you are as a person, and you are no longer just Lindell's daughter. You are Ash, raised by Desmond. You have a different past, and a different future. You are a different person, and I will address you as such."

I blink again, and he laughs.

"You chose your name for a reason," he smiles. "I choose to acknowledge it. Unless you'd rather me call you Iris?"

I shake my head. "No, Ash is fine. I was just… surprised is all. I mean, I thought you were going to be…"

"Old-fashioned?" he raises an eyebrow. "I tend not to linger on the past unless I can learn from it.

"Now, I believe this is enough of a lesson for today," he says. "Return to your home and rest for our next meeting."

"Alright," I nod. "When do you want me to come back?"

"Tomorrow morning, after you've had something to eat," he answers. "I would hate to see a dragon defeated so easily by something as simple as hunger pains."

I laugh. "Eat breakfast. Got it."

"Yes," he smiles back. "And remember what I said. Unless you can learn from your past, close your eyes to it. You've been through more than most, Ash, and it would be rather unfortunate if you let its darkness consume you. As I said, you are your own greatest strength. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will realize how great your power really is."

"Right," I nod. "I'll try."

"Take care of yourself, Ash. Oh, and do not be so hard on the boy."

"What?"

He gives me a knowing look. "Your journey is parallel to that of the next Spinjitsu Master. As he grows, so shall you. The two of you are connected, and as such the two of you must learn to conquer challenges together. As allies."

"You mean Lloyd?"

"Surprises greater than the one you've just experienced will face you in the future. Do not let something so small cloud your judgment."

"My judgment-" I shake my head. "Whim, he's a kid- not some pawn to a stupid fate-"

"He has accepted his path, as you must. Just as you were born to guide Ninjago, he was born to save it."

My jaw sets, and he lets out a breath. "I understand this is difficult to accept, but please. Think on my words."

My consciousness starts to slip as Whim gives me one last smile, but all I can feel is a smoldering coal in my stomach.


	11. Growing Pains

_Mother of God this is a long chapter XD Thanks for giving me the time to write it just the way I wanted, especially since there's so much crammed into it._

_The plot behind this chapter is going to directly corellate with the next installment in this series ((the sequel)) starring none other than everyone's favorite archer, Hale! *party streamers* As more comes along, I might talk a little more about it, but for now I hope you enjoy this terrifyingly long chapter._

_Don't be afraid to leave a review and tell me what you think!_

_- Fell_and_ Fallen -_

* * *

"Good morning, Ash," Sensei greets me as I enter the dining room. Everyone's already started breakfast, and Cole shifts over to let me sit beside him. "I trust your meditation went well?"

I nod. "It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it should be interesting," I answer with another yawn. "What's for breakfast?"

"Lloyd made some type of blueberry pancake," Cole answers as Zane passes me a plate. "It's pretty good. Really sweet, though."

I blink. "Since when was Lloyd added to the cooking list?"

"Since he grew like, twenty feet," Jay shovels a pancake into his mouth.

"It's fine, Ash. It was actually pretty fun."

I almost jump as Lloyd emerges from the kitchen, his new, longer face splitting with an all-too-familiar grin. He smacks his head against the door frame, wincing as he shoves his curls out of his face. His new voice and body are still unnerving to me, and I wonder not for the first time how everyone else can even stand it.

"Are you alright, Lloyd?"

"Fine, fine," Lloyd answers Zane as he waves the thought away with a few long fingers. He takes a seat at the table, his lean legs folding under him as he sits. "Just- uh- getting used to being so tall."

He smirks. "I guess you guys can't call me short stuff anymore, huh?"

Kai rolls his eyes. "Just because you're taller than the rest of us now doesn't mean you aren't the same bratty kid you've always been."

"Yeah, it's not like you have any more experience than the rest of us," Cole stabs a blueberry that slipped from his pancake. I pick up my own fork.

"So, uh, where's Nya?" I ask as I cut into my pancakes and take a bite. Cole was right, they're incredibly sweet- almost unbearably so- but Lloyd doesn't seem to notice as he digs into his own stack. Good to see that his incredible sweet tooth hasn't faded.

"Here," the petite girl slips into the room, clutching a phone in her hand. She patters over to me and holds it out. "You have a call."

"From who?" I ask as I drop my fork and take the slim device from her. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ash."

"Oh, Hale," I blink, and Cole stops eating. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine, really, just- uh-" something clatters in the background, followed by a stream of expletives. Hale sighs. "Look, I really need a favor."

"What kind of favor?" I shove Cole's hand away as he tries to lean in closer.

"Can you swing by the shop? It's a little hard to explain."

"Now?"

"At your earliest convenience," something else crashes, and there are more curses. "The earlier the better. Oh and- uh- bring the whole gang along. Cole, too. We might need his extra strength."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you soon?"

"Please."

The call disconnects and I hand the phone back to Nya, who looks just as confused as the rest of the room.

"What was that all about?"

"I think something happened to Hale," I get to my feet. "He needs us at the shop."

Cole grimaces and I give him a pointed look. "I thought the two of you were alright."

"From a distance, yes, but-"

I roll my eyes. "Is everyone else okay with it?"

"Yeah, fine," Kai gets to his feet. "If he needs our help he needs our help. Kind of our job."

"Then I guess that's-" Lloyd gets to his feet, and I scowl. "Lloyd-"

"Come on, Ash, I'm not little anymore! I can help!"

"There is no way in hell we are taking you on a mission," I shake my head. "Especially not one we know nothing about."

He scowls back. "Just because you're bitter about me being an adult doesn't mean you can keep bossing me around!"

"Excuse you!"

"Hey, let's all just- ah- calm down before someone gets hurt, alright?" Cole grasps my shoulder and I realize my hand has already sparked to life. I stifle it with a few careful fingers.

"She started it-"

Sensei slams his staff against the floor, making us all jump. "Enough! I will not have my students fighting over the breakfast table!"

"Sorry, Sensei," I grumble between clenched teeth. "But Lloyd still needs training. He just isn't ready for-"

"Take him with you."

We blink.

"Sensei, you aren't serious-"

"I know you are protective of Lloyd, as we all are, but I'm afraid he is right. With this new form, he is closer to his destiny than ever before. He must be ready to face the challenges ahead of him."

"Sensei-"

"Ash, please," Lloyd's grey eyes bore into mine. "I promise I won't get in the way, and I'll be careful!"

"I still-"

"One mission," Cole crosses his arms, staring down the taller green ninja with a careful gaze. "We'll use it as a test. You get to come along, but we'll be watching you. And you have to follow everything we say, alright?"

"Fine," Lloyd rolls his eyes. "Just let me go."

"You okay with that, Ash?"

Smoke plumes from my mouth as I let out a frustrated breath. "I don't like it, but-"

"Thanks, Ash!" Lloyd crushes me in a massive hug that nearly cracks my ribs. The green ninja is obviously still unaware of his strength, and I struggle to breathe under his muscular arms.

"Not- so tight," I cough as he finally lets me go. "Hell, you can hug our enemies to death."

He flashes a smile. "Still regret bringing me along?"

"Don't push it."

* * *

"Good, you're here." Hale breathes a sigh of relief as we step onto the corner leading to his shop. He looks like he's been through hell- his hair is bedraggled, his clothes are rumpled and stained with god-knows-what- it's a wonder he's even still standing.

"Wow," Cole whistles. "You look like hell."

I elbow him. "Hale, what happened to you?"

He grimaces. "Like I said on the phone- it's hard to explain. It's best if I just show you."

He leads us down the street and toward his shop, where we immediately realize what's wrong.

The storefront is shattered, littering the sidewalk with shards of glass and metal that glint in the sunlight. The door hangs off its hinges and offers a small step into the shop, where the walls are scorched and shelves are turned completely on their sides, spilling pieces of merchandise onto the glass-studded floor.

"What the hell-"

"Caiden, they're here," Hale calls into the destroyed shop, and another man appears from under the mutilated counter.

"Hello, Ash and company," Caiden greets us, wiping a streak of sweat and dirt from his face. "It's good to see you again. Though I wish it were under different circumstances."

"Caiden's the one who helped me buy the shop," Hale explains. He stoops to pick up the twisted remnants of a switchblade. "He popped in for a visit before… well, all this happened."

"It looks like a bomb went off in here," Kai's auburn eyes scan the destroyed shop. "What happened?"

"The Valkyrie happened, that's what," Caiden answers in a growl. "Damn bastards tore this whole place apart."

"The Valkyrie?"

"It's a local gang- well, less of a gang and more of a highly-organized mob," Hale answers. "They raid shops, take what they like, and then destroy the rest. They've hit dozens of places up and down the city, so it was pretty much inevitable that they'd come after me soon."

"I tried helping Hale set up a security system, but the Valkyrie are damned good," Caiden shakes his head. "They got past everything without tripping the alarm, then completely trashed the place. They try to make it look like some clueless low-lifes did it, but this is too clean. Cams are wiped, no fingerprints, no residue from how they got in- they're untraceable."

"So you want us to find them?" Zane asks.

Hale grimaces. "Not exactly."

"Not exactly?"

"Look, it's like Caiden said- this group is completely untouchable. There's no way you guys are going to be able to take them down, at least not without some serious intel. No one even knows where their headquarters is, much less who's running the damn thing."

"So what are we here for?" Cole crosses his arms. "To admire your new décor?"

Hale's eyes darken on his. "I need to get something back. They took an upgrade I've been working on- something that can be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands."

"What kind of upgrade?"

"Wu told me a couple of months ago that your ship's systems needed some updating. It sounded like Nya was doing her best, but since you guys are so busy he asked if I could scrap something together."

"You did a hell of a lot better than that," Caiden rolls his eyes. "That update drive has new targeting systems, flight configurations, tracking algorithms-"

"It's really powerful," Hale finishes. "I was going to drop by with it sometime this week, then- well- this happened."

"The Valkyrie hit a few businesses down the block a couple of weeks ago, so I talked Hale into tagging his stuff in case it got stolen," Caiden smirks at the archer. "As luck would have it, we finished all the merch just before they struck."

"So you know where it is?"

Hale nods. "The Valkyrie aren't stupid, so they jammed the signal after a couple of hours. But not before I got a fix on the location."

"Sounds good," Kai nods. "So where is it?"

Hale grimaces back. "That's why I was a little… loathe to ask."

"The outpost is just outside Arashi," Caiden's watery eyes fix on me. I balk at the mention of the town I destroyed- twice now- with my uncontrollable powers. "Which, if you remember, has a bounty on Iris' head."

"Swell."

"Which means you'll have to go in incognito, at least until you reach the outpost," Hale says. "I have to stay here and start on repairs, but Caiden says he can drive you out and bring you back before anyone even notices you're there."

"That sounds dangerous," Zane's eyes flick to Cole. "Are we certain we want to bring Lloyd along? It may be too much for him so soon."

"Hey, I'm standing right here!"

Hale blinks at the tall figure behind us. "Wait. That's-"

Kai grimaces. "A few things happened since the race."

"I'll say," the archer's grey eyes widen. "Holy hell, kid, what kind of sprouts are you eating?"

"It was more of a tea, actually-"

"It isn't important," I shake my head. "You said we had to get into Arashi incognito. How do you propose we do that with five ninja and Public Enemy No.1?"

"Well, the ninja are easy- Hale and I have some extra clothes you can throw on until we get far enough out of town to avoid suspicion," Caiden chuckles softly. "Iris, I'm sorry, but you're probably going to get shoved in the trunk."

I cross my arms. "I guess it's better than having my head chewed off by angry villagers."

"You should go soon if you plan to make it back before morning," Hale says. "Caiden has to be back by tomorrow-"

"For my daughter's piano recital," Caiden finishes. "So I can't be late. Which means when we find the outpost you have to get in, find the tech, and get out before you're spotted or arrested. I don't have the money to bail you out, so if you land your asses in prison I'm leaving you behind."

"Deal," Cole chuckles. "But we'll handle it just fine."

"Just as a- uh- word of warning," Hale adds. "I wouldn't suggest confronting the Valkyrie head-on. They're a whole criminal enterprise, and Arashi holds just one of their outposts. Getting caught could mean trouble for you down the road, maybe even more you can deal with."

"This isn't our first rodeo," Jay grins. "Just lead the way."

* * *

People in movies seem to travel by trunk an awful lot, and I'm starting to think that producers severely overestimate just how much room there is in the back of a car.

Caiden drives over a bump that nearly smacks my head into the seat again, but I manage to cling for dear life onto the door latch and ride out the turbulence. He shouts an apology back.

"It's only a little farther, Iris, we'll get you out soon!"

"Just- keep driving."

It's been nearly an hour of bumpy roads and swift turns since we reached Arashi- another three just to get out of Ninjago City with only a couple of fifteen-minute rest stops to stretch my legs. Spitfire hisses a plume of smoke that nearly suffocates me in the cramped space between my knees and my elbows, and I struggle to remember what fresh air tasted like.

"You still alive, Ash?"

"Barely," I grimace again as my shoulder lurches against the wall. "Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"To help your mistress get his tech back," Jay snickers. "Wait, or is it mister? Mistress-?"

"Hale isn't my mi-stress," I growl back as the van jerks over yet another bump. "Didn't anyone tell you- rumors are- bad?"

"When has Jay ever been good at listening?"

"Oops, sorry Cole. I forgot that you were still sensitive to the whole-"

"Just can it."

"I was just going to say-"

"Jay."

"What?"

"Another word out of your mouth and my fist is going to-"

"Hey, there are no fights in this van," Caiden growls from the driver's seat. "We have less than a mile left. Hold the raging testosterone until we've reached our destination. Anything happens before that, I'm leaving you by the side of the road."

Jay grumbles. "He started it."

I roll my eyes. "Jay, if I ever- get out of this trunk, I'm giving you a- lesson in- provocation."

"It's kind of weird hearing your voice come from nowhere," Lloyd says as he cranes his head over the seat that looms over me. "Like the time I got lost in the mall and you and Nya had to use the intercom to find me even though I was in the video store where you left me-"

"We don't- talk about- that."

"We're here."

The van finally comes to a stop and I release my grip on the door latch. The others begin to pile out of the car, and the trunk soon, thankfully, opens.

"Hope I didn't damage you too bad, Iris."

"It's fine," I shake my head as Caiden helps me out of the trunk. Spitfire growls at his hand, and he drops it like a hot pan. I grimace. "I guess Spitfire isn't as forgiving."

"I'll say," Caiden gives the dragon a careful look as the others start changing into their gear. "You got a leash for that thing?"

Spitfire hisses, and I tug my sleeve over him. "He's fine, just having a temper tantrum."

"So how far away is this outpost?" Kai asks, and Caiden and I look up to realize the ninja already have their hoods up. I pull my own on as Caiden answers.

"About a hundred yards into the forest. Word around town is they have some type of underground base, but I don't know of an exact entrance. This is as close as I could get without someone coming after me."

"Hale uploaded a map to my falcon before we left," Zane blinks, and his eyes scramble with information. "I believe I can lead us there."

"Good," Caiden nods. "I'll meet you back here by midnight. I'm only in town until then, so if you're not here, I'm leaving your sorry asses."

"Don't worry about us, we've got this in the bag," Jay chuckles.

"Still," Caiden grimaces. "You better get moving soon, there's only a couple of hours left until nightfall."

* * *

"Are all your missions like this?" Lloyd cringes as he sloshes through a mud puddle.

Cole snickers. "What were you expecting, kid? A rainbow road leading us right to the bad guy's front door?"

"If you don't like it, maybe you should've stayed home," Kai gives Lloyd a look that he returns with a glare.

"Like it? I'm totally fine," the green ninja grumbles as he tugs his foot out of the mud with a sickening squelch. "I was just- uh- curious, that's all."

"Right," Cole rolls his eyes.

"It is not much farther," Zane offers a reassuring smile, especially to Jay who glares at the mud like it's an enemy. "And I have heard that mud has invigorating properties for skin."

"Not when it's all over your clothes!" Jay gags as he tugs a string of wet grass from his sleeve. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"How do you even stand it, Zane?" I grimace at the white ninja's muddied clothes. "That's going to take ages to get out."

He turns his cool eyes on me. "I find it best to focus on the mission rather than laundry," the ghost of a smirk tugs at his lips. "Besides, Sensei ordered a few extra robes for me for this very reason."

"And not for the rest of us?"

"Well, Hale made yours-"

I hit him in the arm. "When did you get so sarcastic?"

"I have always had the capability, but you provide the opportunity."

I hit him again, but he doesn't even flinch.

"You do realize I am made of metal-"

"Shut it, Tin Man."

Zane chuckles before he suddenly blinks and pauses, staring blankly at the ground ahead of us as we come to a stop beside him.

"We're here already?" Jay glances around the soggy, dark forest. Mud and rock mix in a nasty cocktail around us- forming hills and pits that make it difficult to see more than a few feet in any direction. If I didn't know any better, I would think we had walked in a giant circle.

"Yes. This is the place."

"Hale said there was a whole cave system here, right?" Kai's auburn eyes flicked around us. "All I see are rocks."

"Duh, because caves are underground," Jay rolls his eyes, earning a glare from the red ninja.

Cole shakes his head. "The Valkyrie are smart. They're not going to have a glowing neon sign pointing directly to the entrance-"

"Lloyd, don't wander off!"

The green ninja turns back to us with a roll of his eyes. I cross my arms and give him a pointed look, which he returns with his own intensity.

"Honestly, are you trying to get lost?"

"I wasn't going far."

I roll my eyes. "Sure. Next thing you know you're in the middle of the woods with no idea where you are-"

He grimaces. "I'm not a kid, Ash, I was just going to look at something. Get off my case-"

"This is a trial mission, Lloyd. You aren't official yet. Until you can follow orders-"

"Orders? You aren't the leader here, Ash-"

"That's right. I am," Cole glares between the two of us. "And the two of you can argue after we're done, alright? No more fighting unless it's against an enemy."

Lloyd and I roll our eyes, but don't say anything more. Cole seems satisfied.

"Good. We should spread out, try and find the entrance-"

"That's what I wanted to show you."

"What?"

Lloyd lets out a frustrated breath. "I think I found something," his grey eyes harden on mine. "Permission to show you?"

"Just lead the way," Cole steps between me and him before I can snap back. Lloyd turns sharply away, leading us into the soggy forest with an angry set of his shoulders. I fall behind the others before I can fly at the green ninja's neck.

"There's a symbol over here," Lloyd points to a tree darkened by the rain. Kai clambers onto it, shifting a branch to reveal an elaborate "V" carved deep into the bark. He raises an eyebrow at it.

"Anyone else thinking V for Valkyrie?"

"So we're in the right place," Cole scans the ground. "But where's the entrance?"

"Ugh, I'm so soaked I think my insides are full of water," Jay groans as he slumps against a nearby rock. "It's going to take me forever to get dry again-!"

The blue ninja lets out a yelp as the rock suddenly shifts beneath him, scraping away with a scream of mist. Jay staggers back against us as we stare with wide eyes at the sudden opening that fades into view as the haze clears.

"Well," Cole whistles through his teeth. "Looks like we found the entrance."

A slim, metallic ladder descends into the complete darkness of the opening, understandable since it's a cave leading at least twenty feet underground. Zane steps forward first, unclipping a small flashlight from his belt before I stop him with a hand.

"It might be better if I light up," I say as Spitfire hums around my wrist. "That way if something jumps out at us, we don't lose our only light source."

He nods. "Good idea."

I step toward the hole, swallowing the claustrophobia that wells up in my chest before I crouch to start climbing down the ladder. Cole waves the others forward.

"I'll take up the rear. Keep your eyes open, boys," his eyes fix for a second on Lloyd. "And no stupid moves, alright?"

The green ninja snorts derisively. "Yes, mom."

I ignore the snappish remark that tugs at my lips and instead focus on stepping onto the right rungs. Jagged stone walls scrape against my back as I descend, and soon enough the flickering light from above is swallowed by Zane's body as he follows me. The darkness is unnerving, and I struggle to bite back the feeling of being buried alive.

Thankfully, the cave opens up once I reach the bottom of the ladder. I step back to let the others off and let my fire flare to life around my hand- illuminating the cavern with a warm, flickering light.

Pockets of air and stalagmites seem like a maze of passages around us, leading everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's significantly warmer down here- a comfortable heat that helps dispel the dampness in my clothes as Cole finally steps off the ladder.

A glance around shows little sign that anyone has been down here, but as my eyes adjust to the dimness I realize there are lines of dormant lights running down the sides of the cavern, leading… somewhere.

"I think it's this way," I gesture deeper into the cavern, where the lights snake down a thin corridor.

"Seems a good a guess as any," Kai says with a glance at his watch. He wipes away the drops of water that haze its surface. "We better hurry- we only have a couple of hours before we have to meet Caiden."

I start into the hall, moving as quickly as I can without leaving the others in darkness. Our eyes scan the myriad of pits and side passages that we pass for any signs of our enemies, but all that answers us is the sound of our own squelching footsteps against the damp ground.

"How do they even get everything down here?" Kai muses as we head down a cramped tunnel. Lloyd smacks his head against a low-hanging shelf of rock hard enough to make us all flinch, but he shakes it aside.

"Carefully, I think," Zane frowns as he shifts to avoid a stalactite.

"It's nice down here," Jay glances around the moist yellow walls with open appreciation. "I kind of feel like Batman."

"Bats?" Kai grimaces. "I hope there aren't any bats."

"What's the problem, Kai? Don't like flying mammals?"

"I don't like the idea of rats with wings."

"I hear you," Cole shakes his head as I step over a lump of smooth rock. "There are some things that just should never have been created."

Jay pauses by a distorted chunk of rock. "Hey, does this rock look like Sensei to you?"

"There's something up ahead," I squint into the darkness that flickers just outside of my fire. The boys fall silent, their hands falling to their weapons as we forge on toward the opening that yawns before us.

We step into the openness of another cavern, this one filled with piles upon piles of weapons and tech that glitter in the light of my flame.

My eyes widen. "Holy-"

"How much do they have down here?" Kai gapes as he steps toward a nearby table bristling with antique swords. He picks one up and examines it, his eyes widening even further. "This is nearly four hundred years old!"

Jay picks up a device from another table. "Hey, I tried to make one of these when I was a kid!" he turns to us with it. "It's a voice recorder that lets you change your voice to sound like someone else's! All I managed to do was make my voice higher…"

"What do they do with all this stuff?" Kai sets the sword down and stares at the endless rows of stolen goods before us.

Cole grimaces. "I don't think I want to find out."

"Hale's tech has to be around here somewhere," I sift through a table with one hand, letting my fire glow into the air so I can tug my hood off for a better look. "We just have to find it and get out."

"But that's like looking for a needle in a stack of needles," Jay groans as he picks up another device. "We'll never find it in time."

"Perhaps I can fix onto the signal from his tracking devices," Zane offers. "It might narrow our search-"

"Hey, has anyone seen Lloyd?"

All of us blink at Kai, glancing around the dim cavern before realizing there's no sign of the tall green ninja. I feel myself scowl.

"I thought I told him not to wander off-"

"Lloyd!" Cole calls into the darkness, tugging off his hood with an angry growl. "Lloyd, where the hell are you?"

There's no answer.

"Shit, I knew this would happen," I shake my head as the fire hanging in the air twists and sparks. Jay eyes it nervously. "I knew we should've just left him at home and-"

"Ash-!"

I blink just as something snatches at my hair, tugging me sharply toward the ground in a blast of pain and a shriek. My fire dies as lights explode in the cavern, blinding the ninja as muddled shapes leap to life and attack them. They're wrestled to the ground as someone slams their foot into my side hard enough to crack a rib if it weren't for my suit. Still, a yelp bursts from my lips as they kick me again.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" a low, feminine voice chuckles from above my head as they plant their foot in my side again and shove me onto my stomach. "Is this the Queen of Ninjago? Why, I'm honored!"

I start to raise my head before a boot smacks me in the face, throwing me onto my back in an explosion of stars and pain. One of the ninja growls something as I struggle to make sense of the colors that dance in my eyes.

"Don't threaten me, pretty boy," my attacker growls back. "Especially not in the presence of royalty."

My vision starts to refocus, and I realize I'm staring up at an armed woman- her buzzed hair giving way to a streak of blond that falls into her eyes. She sneers at the ninja as she turns to her cronies.

"Did you get all of them?"

A man nods, his face obscured by a hood as he crouches over Kai, who struggles beneath him. "Yes, Nova. Well, all except one."

"Excuse me, but I must have misheard that. Did you just say you missed one?"

The man grimaces. "Just a- uh- green one. We weren't expecting them, so-"

Nova laughs. "Green, you say?" she sneers down at me. "You brought that _kid_ along? How desperate are you?"

I scowl as she shakes her head at her crony. "Leave him. That kid is no threat."

Her almond-shaped eyes turn back to me, flickering with malevolence to match her sneer. "So what brings you here, your majesty? Just a friendly visit? Or maybe you're looking for this."

She holds up a flashdrive, and I realize with a start it must be Hale's. I wipe a streak of blood from my nose and struggle to sit up.

"We don't want trouble-"

Nova flattens me against the ground with her foot, cracking my head against the rock hard enough to make me blink again. "Of course you don't, your highness, especially against the Valkyrie. Which is why I suggest you stop moving and pay attention. Maybe then your boy toys will walk free."

One of the ninja groans in pain, but I can't see who it is. I bite back an angry growl. "What do you want?"

"Just a simple answer to a simple question, your grace. What's more important to you? Yourself or what's on this disk?" Nova purses her lips, which are split by a jagged scar lighter than the rest of her face. "Because I propose a trade."

I struggle to breathe against the weight of her foot. "I don't understand-"

"The Valkyrie deal in valuables, highness, and you are by far the most valuable thing in this room," she crouches against my stomach, and even through the suit I know she's going to leave a mark. "Last of a dying race, kickass powers? That's something that would be worth a lot to us."

I narrow my eyes. "I accept and then what? You force me to do your dirty work? No thanks."

She howls with laughter. "You're a ham, queenie, I'll give you that much," she shakes her head. "You really don't understand what the Valkyrie's all about."

Her jaw quirks. "I'd be willing to show you. The Valkyrie is all about appreciating power, and you are very powerful."

"You keep your grimy hands off her!" Cole growls, heaving against the pile of people that are holding him down. Nova scowls back.

"Pipe down, Blackie, can't you see the queen and I are having a girl talk?" she turns back to me. "Men, am I right? Always thinking they know exactly what we want. If it were up to me, the Valkyrie would live up to its name and be girls-only, but the Matriarch refuses-"

"Matriarch?"

A smug smile tugs the woman's scarred lips. "Join up and I might let you meet her."

"Not a chance."

Nova clicks her tongue with a slow shake of her head. "That's a shame, your majesty, a real shame," her hand closes around Hale's drive. "I thought for sure you would see our side of things. Too bad, I guess."

She chuckles deep her in chest. "I guess all that's left is to eliminate you from the equation. Don't worry, your highness, we'll make sure to bury you somewhere nice-"

Nova cuts off with a yell as the room explodes in green light. She's thrown away from me, crashing against the wall as someone tugs me to my feet.

Lloyd flashes a grin. "Miss me?"

I scowl back. "What are you-"

"Saving your lives," he shifts his gaze to the ninja, who struggle to stand against the Valkyrie who still have them pinned. There's at least a dozen of them, if not more, and they're all armed with a variety of knives and clubs. A few of them glare at us as Nova scrambles to her feet.

"Kill them!" she screams, wiping a trickle of blood from her nose. "I want their heads on pikes!"

A group of Valkyrie charge forward, drawing their weapons to meet me and Lloyd head on. I tug my hood over my face just as Lloyd releases another orb of wild green energy- exploding in a blast of heat as I add my fire to his.

The cavern is engulfed in pops of color and sound I charge my way toward the ninja, narrowly avoiding a bat to the face as I roll onto the ground and swipe back with an arc of fire. Kai shouts something and I realize he's on his feet, his sword drawn. He scrambles to help Jay as he wrestles his own attacker, and I focus on Zane.

The white ninja struggles against a woman who has him flattened against a wall, a knife at his throat. She's bigger than me- a thick hand pinning Zane to the wall as she lowers the knife to his heart. I charge with a scream of fire, tackling her to the ground in a wild burst of heat that blinds me for a second.

The woman growls and drives her knee into my stomach. My breath strangles in my throat, but I grab her hand before she can bring the knife down on my chest. I fill my fingers with blistering heat, watching her own glow red with the intense fire pulsing through her hand. She ignores it and lets out a wild scream- her fist arcing down toward my throat as I struggle to shove back against her incredible strength.

She lets out another scream as a shuriken embeds itself in her shoulder. She turns wildly as Zane shoves her off me with a swift kick- driving her back with a swing of his shuriken as he tugs the other from her bleeding shoulder.

I scramble to my feet with a heave of breath as Cole swings into view, his scythe hissing through the air as he slams the blunt end of the staff into the woman's temple. She collapses to the ground and doesn't move.

"Where's Nova?" my eyes scramble around the cavern, where the Valkyrie continue to fight fiercely among the walls of stolen artifacts.

Zane's cool eyes narrow. "There."

I follow his gaze and find Nova scrambling with something on a table across the room. We take off toward her, shoving past protective Valkyrie as we make our way toward their leader.

Nova looks up with a glare as we approach, brandishing the thing in her hand and aiming it down at Hale's device on the table.

"Any closer and I'll blast it to pieces," she growls, the nose of her handgun unwavering on its target. We skid to a stop.

"That's better," she sneers. "Now you're going to behave nicely and-"

Her body jerks as her eyes suddenly roll back into her head. She slumps to the ground where the gun skitters harmlessly away. Kai breathes heavily over her unconscious body and lowers the hilt of his sword.

"Good riddance."

Jay yelps from nearby as he knocks the last standing Valkyrie out with an elbow to the head, barely staggering back before the much larger man slams to the ground. He lets a sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over."

Cole picks up Hale's drive and tucks it into his pocket. "That's it. Let's get out of here."

"But what about all of this?" Kai gestures to the mountains of tech and weapons that still remain. "We're supposed to leave it here for when they wake up?"

"I already took care of that," Lloyd smirks nearby, stepping over a pile of dropped Valkyrie to approach us. "The cops will be here soon to drag them all way, and return the stuff."

"Yeah, the cops will-" Jay's eyes widen. "Wait a second-"

"Lloyd!" I tug my hood from my head. "What the hell were you thinking? If the police find out I'm here-!"

"We have to go," Cole's jaw sets. "Now."

We scramble from the cavern, slipping and crashing into walls of rock as we struggle to follow the strings of light out of the cave.

Zane is the first up the ladder, keeping careful watch as we clamber out of the hole and back into the soggy mess of the outside world. Night has fallen, making it even more difficult to see whether or not Arashi authorities have already arrived.

I scowl at Lloyd. "First you run off, then you call the cops that are completely ready to kill me at a moment's notice-"

He glares back. "I saved your life, didn't I?"

"It's a little soon to say, don't you think?"

"Hey, let's argue about this later, alright?" Cole glowers at both of us. "It's almost midnight and if we're not there for Caiden to pick us up you can say goodbye to freedom in general. Now move!"

Lloyd and I manage a final glare between the two of us before we plunge into the woods, following Zane's muddled white shape as he leads us back to the pick-up point. Our feet squelch and slide against the muddy earth, and I stumble more than once on protruding roots and rocks.

Lights flash in the forest around us, and my heart sinks into my stomach.

"They're coming-"

"I know," Cole grits his teeth. "We just have to be faster."

Zane leads us past a group of police officers that don't even notice our presence as we rocket past them, back toward the edge of the forest. He screeches to a stop just before the end, leaving us to crash into each other as we struggle to stop behind him.

"What is it?" Kai asks in a whisper.

Zane narrows his eyes. "There is a vehicle. I am just verifying that it is Caiden's."

He leans out of the forest, his hood shining like a beacon in the light of the moon as he scrutinizes whatever lurks just out of sight. He turns back to us.

"It's him."

"Then let's go," Cole galvanizes us forward. "The sooner we're out of here the better."

I bite back a grimace as we approach the van. "Shit, I forgot about the trunk."

Caiden rolls down the window. "Just get in," he hisses in the darkness. "We don't have time to worry about logistics, this place is crawling with cops. Did you find the drive?'

Cole nods and brandishes it. "Yeah."

"Good. Now let's move."

We scramble into the van, where I end up sandwiched between Kai and Lloyd, who refuses to look at me as Caiden shifts into gear. That's fine with me. Looking at him fills my stomach with a burning anger, and I struggle to keep it contained as we drive off into the night.

* * *

"So you got the device back?"

"Yeah, we did," I shove my washed hair out of my face as I exit my room and switch the phone to my other ear. My face still aches with the echo of the fight against Nova, but thankfully the bruises have already started to fade. "And it sounds like you'll be getting the rest of your stuff back soon."

"Yeah, Caiden mentioned the authorities got involved," Hale says. "Was that your doing?"

A derisive snort dies in my throat. "No. That was Lloyd."

"Lloyd? What happened to that kid anyway?"

"It's a long story," I shake my head. "Basically he hit fast forward on his life and now he thinks he's capable of anything and everything."

Hale pauses. "Sounds like you aren't happy with that."

"Of course I'm not," I growl into the phone. "The kid gets a bad break and he thinks it's amazing? Of course I'm going to be pissed."

Another pause. "This isn't really about him, is it?"

"What?"

"You and I didn't exactly have the happy childhood, Ash. Hell, I thought mine was miserable but yours was twice that. I think you're, I don't know, trying to compensate through the kid and now that he's older-"

"What? Now I'm the bad guy?"

"I didn't say that-"

"Look, Hale, I know you're trying to help but you don't understand," I growl as I pause outside the dining room. I was hungry when I got out of the shower, but right now all I feel in my stomach is smoldering anger. "Lloyd is just a kid, he doesn't have the capacity to-"

"Have you actually talked to him about this?"

"I've tried-"

"Without yelling? Or getting angry?"

Pause.

"I thought so. Talk to the kid, Ash. Like a normal human being. Get everything out in the open then decide whether you hate him or not."

"I don't hate him-"

"Good. That means there's something to save," his voice fades a little on the call. "Now I gotta go. There are a few things left to fix and Caiden's with his daughter. I'll talk to you later, Ash."

"Right. Later."

The phone clicks, leaving me to stare at it as I struggle to make sense of what Hale told me. This isn't about me, it's never been about me. Lloyd is just a kid who hasn't been slapped by reality yet. It's inevitable that he's going to regret growing up, just like-

_Just like I did_.

No. Hale is wrong. I'm not making this about me, I just know from experience that Lloyd is going to hate what he decided-

The door creaks open and I nearly stumble in, barely correcting myself before I face-plant on the floor.

"Whoa! Sorry, Ash, I didn't see you there."

I straighten myself up and look back at Kai. "No, it's fine. I was just- uh- finishing my call with Hale, you know. Letting him know we got out okay."

"Well, it's not like we're in a hurry," Jay fiddles with a fork. He looks much more comfortable now that he's out of his soggy gear and back in his sweats. "Nya's upgrading the system and Zane's making breakfast at the pace of a snail-"

"He's tired," Kai slumps into his seat. "We all are after last night."

I stretch and take my own seat just as the door creaks open again. Lloyd enters, and Hale's words hit me like a scorching hurricane. I focus instead on the table in front of me.

Kai greets him instead. "Hey, kid. How you doing?"

"Almost smacked my head getting out of the shower," the green ninja shrugs. "But I'm starting to get used to being so tall."

He moves to the opposite side of the table, and I feel myself shift away imperceptibly. Lloyd narrows his eyes at me.

"Don't tell me you're still pissed."

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Look, Ash, I'm done with you treating me like a kid, alright?" he snaps. "I've done everything you've asked me to do and I even saved your ass on the last mission-"

I glare at him. "You did what was expected of you. And who said you could curse?"

He gives me a pointed look. "I'm not a kid anymore, alright? Just accept it and move on-"

I roll my eyes. "Cut the sass and get of my case, Lloyd-"

"Not until-"

"Until what?" my hands close around a fork and Jay's eyes widen. "Until I'm totally fine with you throwing your life away? Until I forget everything that happened that night? Until I stop wishing with every fiber of my being that I could've stopped it-"

"Why are you so obsessed?" Lloyd growls. "I made _my choice_. It's _my life_ that I'm living, not yours, so you're just going to have to get over it-"

"Get over it?" I snort. "Your decision hasn't hit you yet, has it? You're never getting your childhood back, Lloyd. You're going to have to live with the consequences for the rest of your life, and I promise you that you are going to regret doing what you did-"

"Like you?"

My mouth pops open, then closes. "Excuse you!"

"Don't pretend that isn't what this is all about, Ash," his eyes narrow. "You're just angry because I didn't ask you first, that you weren't there to protect me as always. But guess what? I'm big enough to take care of myself from now on!"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" I shake my head. "You might look different, but you're still the same naïve little kid you always were-"

His face flames and I give him a pointed look. "What? Now you're at a loss for words? You know I'm right, Lloyd. No matter how your appearance changes you're still just a kid-!"

Lloyd lets out a guttural shout and flies at my throat, throwing us both to the ground. Kai yells something like he wants us to stop, but all I see is red as I drive my knee into Lloyd's stomach. He lets out a grunt and lessens his grip on my neck, letting me shove myself on top of him and smack an elbow into his face. He catches my arm and shoves me against the wall, cracking my head against the wood hard enough to make me see stars.

Someone tugs on Lloyd's shoulders, but he shoves them aside as his hands return to my neck. I glare at him as my hands close around his wrists and start to light-

Lloyd is suddenly thrown away from me, stumbling back in a trail of fire as I charge after him, but someone jerks me back.

"That's enough!"

Cole glares down at both of us as I struggle against Kai's grip. Jay holds onto Lloyd, who has a wonderful bruise blossoming on his jaw.

"Seriously, I'm gone for ten minutes and the two of you try to kill each other?" Cole glowers.

"She started it."

"Well I'm ending it," Cole glares back. "Now. Honestly, I thought the two of you were friends."

"Maybe if he didn't grow into an intolerable douchebag-"

"Look who's talking-"

"That's it!" Cole grits his teeth. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Both of you back to your rooms. Now."

"Excuse you?"

"When did _you_ turn into our mother?"

"When the two of you wouldn't stop acting like immature twelve-year-olds," Cole glares back at both of us. "So until you can look at each other without trying to rip the other's throat out, you aren't leaving your rooms."

"You can't do this-"

"Funny, because I just did," Cole opens the door. "Now, are you going back on your own or do I have to drag you back myself?"

I shove Kai off me and straighten up, smoothing down my shirt where Lloyd had dug his hands into it. "I guess if one of us has to be the adult, it's going to be me."

"Ash-!"

"Cool it," Cole's eyes narrow on mine. "I don't know what your problem is, Ash, but I'll chalk it up to the rough night. No more of this, alright?"

"Whatever," I shove past him and onto the deck. Lloyd shouts something after me that would make a convict blush, and Cole turns back to him with a stern glare. I ignore the rest of the conversation as I make my way back to my room.

Screw Cole and everyone else. Why can't they see my side of this? Lloyd is just a kid and they expect me to treat him like an adult?

He did fight like one, though. My throat throbs with the indent of his fingers over my jugular. He was strong, I have to admit that, and as much as I'll probably regret it later fighting with him was oddly therapeutic.

My fingers trace over my neck as I reach the door to my room, and I pause. He's stronger than this- he showed that much back in the cave. He took down a dozen Valkyrie easily, so why wasn't I hurt much worse? If he was really pissed at me, wouldn't he-

_You almost lit him on fire_.

My hand pauses over the doorknob. What the hell was I thinking? If he wasn't serious about hurting me-

No. We were both angry, we have been for a while now. We both snapped-

_You should go apologize_.

We'd just get in another fight. Chances are he just hesitated- this was only his second serious fight. Next time I won't be so lucky.

_It's like Hale said, you need to talk to him. Now. Before something bad happens._

I shake my head. Cole was right. I need time to think and sort this all out. I turn the knob and finally slip into my room, but as the door clicks shut behind me I'm no closer to calming the storm in my mind.

"This is going to be harder than I thought."

* * *

Nearly an hour of tumultuous thinking passes before Cole brings me breakfast with a side of another careful lecture. He's worried about the state of his team (which is understandable) but given that Lloyd and I are outliers to the ninja he's trained with for so long, he doesn't seem to know what to do with himself. So he just asks how I'm doing, hands me a plate of food that Zane had prepared during the fight this morning, and leaves. He doesn't tell me how Lloyd is or when I can come out, and I can't help the anger that bubbles in my stomach.

Spitfire whirrs as I take a deep breath. "Maybe I do need to chill."

The day passes with a few sporadic naps and some meditation, but with all that's going in my head I can't bring myself to visit Whim. Instead, I open my eyes with a growl.

"I can't stand this," I hiss to Spitfire, who coils around my wrist. "I'm going crazy in here."

He hums in response, maybe to reassure me, but my stomach remains a knot of tension. My legs slip from my meditative pose as I slump back against the floor.

"I hate to admit it, but maybe the others are right," I grumble. "Maybe I am just being a bitch."

Something clatters beyond my door and I sit up, watching as something slips through the crack just under the door. I get to my feet and pad over to it, my feet sticking a little to the floor as I stop down to pick up a folded piece of paper. I open it and start to read the scrawled writing across it.

_Look, I know you're pissed at me and honestly I'm pissed at you too. But this is really stupid and I'm done with it. _

_You. Me. Game room. 11:00 pm when everyone else is asleep. I'll bring the ice cream._

- _Lloyd_

Lloyd? An eyebrow arches up of its own accord. He wants to meet me in the game room after everyone's asleep for what? A rematch? But then why bring ice cream?

I shake my head. Whatever it is, it provides an excellent opportunity to… do what exactly? Do I really want to apologize from him and just… get over this? As much as I hate to admit it, Lloyd is the way he is now, nothing's going to change it.

My eyes close and I remember the little kid who smiled and laughed and made stupid jokes that were only funny late at night. That kid is still in there somewhere, and that's worth something. He might look different, but Lloyd is still… Lloyd.

The paper crinkles under my clenched hand. I guess all that's left to do is meet him and… see how this goes.

* * *

Lloyd looks up as I enter the game room. It's late, the second obnoxiously late night in the row for me, but I don't feel an ounce of exhaustion as I face the tall ninja.

He offers a sheepish grin that's painfully familiar. "I didn't think you'd actually come."

"What can I say? You promised ice cream."

His runs a hand across the back of his head, tugging on a few blond curls. "So, uh, how's your neck?"

I swallow. "Not as bad as it could have been."

He grimaces. "Look, I'm really sorry about that-"

"Don't apologize," I shake my head. "I was the one who nearly lit you on fire." _What was I thinking? Was I really so angry at him that I was willing to burn him?_

Lloyd's grey eyes soften on mine. "I kind of deserved it. I haven't been exactly nice to you."

"And I have?" I raise an eyebrow. "Hell, Lloyd, I don't even know how to talk to you anymore."

"Because I'm older?"

"Because you're…" I shake my head. "Different. I don't mean to be so selfish, but I know this is going to blow up in your face, because it did with me. For the longest time I dreamed about being a kid again-"

"But you hated it," Lloyd crosses his arms. "Your childhood sounded awesome thinking about it, but the second you were cut down to my size all you would talk about was changing yourself back."

I grimace. "Well-"

"It's the same with me, Ash," he says. "Except my memory's a little clearer. Sure, I miss being a kid, but I don't miss not being able to help you, being pushed around because I was small. I'm useful like this, and honestly I'm happy. I think… I think that should be enough for you."

"I know, I know," I grit my teeth. "I know I should just get over it, that I shouldn't be such a bitch when it comes to you, but I just… can't."

"I thought so," he sighs. "Which is why I invited you."

Lloyd slumps back against the couch and picks up a controller and a game disc. He holds it up for me to look at.

"I went out and bought this a couple of days ago. You know, after the whole transformation."

I narrow my eyes at it. "Is that the game Cole wouldn't let you buy because you weren't old enough-?"

"Guess who's old enough to buy it now?"

"You aren't serious."

"I am," he grins and gestures for me to sit beside him. "I thought that since you and I couldn't duke it out without tearing each other apart, we might as well do it in a safe, virtual, yet totally violent way."

I sit next to him. "Cole will kill us if he finds out."

"Which is why I waited until he was asleep," Lloyd's grin widens. "So are you in or not?"

I pick up the other controller. "Only if there's ice cream."

He reaches behind the couch and procures two colorful tubs and a couple of spoons, handing one of each to me. "I hid these too. If Cole found this, I would lose one of the only things in the universe I've grown to love."

I glance at the label. "Confetti cake?"

"It's like twenty flavors in one," he cracks his open. "You'll love it."

"Alright," I manage a smile as he starts the game. "Just understand that I dominate at video games. Especially violent ones."

"In your dreams," he grins back and waggles his fingers. "Longer fingers, faster reflexes."

"That's not how it works-"

"It's exactly how it works," he grabs his spoon and shovels a chunk of ice cream into his mouth. "You're going down, Ash."

I eat a spoonful from my own tub and my mouth explodes with a hundred different flavors. Lloyd smiles at my sudden appreciative look.

"I told you it was good-"

"Shut up and focus," I slump back against the couch. "Because you're about to be dominated."

* * *

Four hours, six tubs of ice cream, and a countless number of fight rounds later, Lloyd and I are halfway passed out on the couch beneath a couple of blankets he'd found sometime after our third tub of ice cream.

"You were right. That ice cream was good," I huddle deeper into my pillows. Lloyd's feet dig into my side and shift around them. "But I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a tub ever again."

"Same," Lloyd moans as he puts a pillow over his head. "Ugh, I think I have permanent brain freeze."

"This was… fun, though," I let my eyes slip closed for a second. "It felt good to, I don't know, mess around like a-uh-"

"A kid?"

My eyes open at Lloyd's careful smile. "Yeah."

"I thought you'd enjoy it," he says. "I mean, you never got the chance to say goodbye to your childhood, so this was kind of a- uh- going away party for mine."

I sit up. "What?"

"I didn't mean for it to be depressing or anything, just for you and I to get even," he says. "So… did it work?"

I pause and slowly slip back against the couch. "I'm still not comfortable with it, Lloyd, but… you're my friend. Probably one of my best friends if I'm willing to admit it," I grimace. "I made a promise to you, Lloyd, that I wouldn't ever leave your side, no matter what, and I've been doing a hell of a job. I've been treating you like shit lately for no reason other than my own conscience, so… yeah. We're good."

He lets out a sigh of relief. "Good, because I don't know how many more of Cole's lectures I could stand."

I laugh. "I hear you."

Lloyd yawns and stretches his long arms above his head, straining his shirt against his broad chest. I shake my head.

"You have to stop doing that, Lloyd."

He pauses. "What?"

"Your body is different now, and girls my age… react to it."

He raises a blond eyebrow. "I thought you and Cole were-"

"I'm taken, not blind."

He chuckles as I let my head fall back against the couch. "I think you're getting tired, Ash."

"Then I'm going to sleep," my voice slurs. "Goodnight, Floyd."

"Lloyd."

"Whatever."

He chuckles, and I just start to slip into unconsciousness before he speaks again.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Yeah?'

"I'm really sorry about what I said and, well, did," he breathes. "I made that promise too, remember? So, yeah. Sorry for being a douchebag."

"Seriously, who told you it was okay for you to curse?"

"Well, I am your age now-"

I snort. "Please. My birthday comes before yours. Years before yours."

"Technically-"

"Shut up, Lloyd," I blindly throw a pillow at him. I vaguely hear it land on the floor. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Sorry," I can practically hear him roll his eyes. "Goodnight, Ash."

"Goodnight, Lloyd Garmadon."


	12. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

_Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! You will be hearing more from the Valkyrie in the future, but for now we're back to the episodes :)_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to R&R!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

Someone jolts me awake.

"Ash, something's happened. Get up!"

I blink rapidly, struggling to make sense of the haze of my vision as the shape above my head solidifies into a recognizable face. I blink again. "Lloyd, what-?"

"Come on!"

He drags me from bed, not even giving me enough time to tug something decent over my ratty sweats before I'm pulled into the main control room. The others are already dressed- hardly surprising since they've trained themselves to don their uniforms mid-fight- and I feel rather exposed as I huddle a little closer to Lloyd for warmth.

"What's going on?" I ask as Zane shifts toward the computer, his robotic falcon clasped to his arm.

"The falcon has returned with troubling news," the white ninja answers, his eyebrows pulled together as he pulls a memory card from the bird and inserts it into the control panel. The screen blinks to life with the falcon's eye camera and, for a second, we struggle to make sense of what we're seeing. "What did you see my mechanical feathered friend?"

"It looks like a desert," I rub at my eyes to clear some of the grime away.

"Not just any desert," Kai shifts closer. He narrows his auburn eyes at the screen. "Those are… snakes!"

My drowsiness disappears in a snap as we all focus on the image, realizing with a start that the hazy shapes are, in fact, a horde of snakes sparring in the center of a familiar spiral.

"The lost city of Ouroboros!" Nya gasps.

"Garmadon has returned to the Serpentine home base!" Kai says. "But why?"

"Looks like they're preparing for a final battle," Cole's coffee-colored eyes narrow.

"Now?" I turn to Sensei. "But why? None of us are prepared to initiate the final battle, it just doesn't make sense-"

"Nya, change course," Sensei orders, and the samurai nods. "We'll head straight for them."

"But-"

"Maybe it doesn't make sense, but knowing Garmadon he has some trick up his sleeves. We can't stand by and let them grow stronger," Cole shakes his head. "We have to do something."

"Cole is right, Ash. All things that have yet to come for the true final battle have not passed, which is precisely why we must stop whatever my brother has planned," Sensei says before turning away. "Go. Prepare. We should arrive by nightfall."

* * *

I land in a puff of sand, rolling to stifle the glow of my flames before I get to my feet.

The buildings of the ruined city huddle in shadows, and the giant stone faces of snakes look all too real in the darkness. An ominous shudder runs through my body, but I shove it aside as the ninja and Nya join me on the dune.

Lloyd shivers beneath his hood, his grey eyes like pinpricks of light in the darkness. "And here I thought deserts were supposed to be hot."

"At night, this is one of the coldest places in all of Ninjago," Zane says, calmly scanning the forbidding city before us.

I glance around and realize we're missing a person. "Where's Sensei?"

"He's gone on ahead," Cole answers in a low voice. He starts forward, his feet sinking into the sand with each step. "Let's go."

We follow him at a run, gliding soundlessly over the dunes as we head into the city. Once under the shadow of the ruins, Nya and I hug the darkness of a thin lane while a few of the ninja split off and move onto the buildings, spreading our line farther to avoid detection. We regroup behind a few ruined arches near the center, and stop just as Garmadon comes into view.

He's watching a snake do work on a vehicle of some sort, but my attention shifts as Sensei appears in front of Garmadon.

"Oh, _brother_," Garmadon growls, his glowing red eyes narrowing at the brilliant figure of his brother.

Sensei grips his staff tightly in a weathered, but strong hand. "It's time we finished this," he hisses back as we move in behind him.

"Bring it on, fools," Garmadon holds the Mega Weapon closer and opens his mouth, maybe to cast another of his spells, but he's cut off as Lloyd rushes forward with a wild yell.

He raises his arms and a line of ice crackles through the air and encases the top of the Mega Weapon. Garmadon growls and looks to Zane, but then his eyes register to the attack's actual origin.

"Lloyd?" he gasps. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Lloyd grimaces. "I've grown a little since the last time you saw me, dad."

Garmadon takes a few steps back, trembling and grasping for words. It's painfully reminiscent of when I saw the green ninja for the first time. "S-stop him!" he shouts at his snakes before running off into a nearby building.

The first snake lunges at Lloyd, but he throws him aside with a well-placed kick that knocks him out. Sensei starts after Garmadon when he's blocked by another snake that Cole shoves aside and face first into the sand. The third attacks me from behind and I throw him off with fiery hand. Spitfire snaps at his face, forcing him back and into Kai, who knocks him out with a swift blow to the head.

Sensei continues toward the door followed by Nya, and with a glance at the moaning snakes, we follow.

Nya kicks open the door and we rush in, skidding to a stop as a swirling vortex in the center of the small room sucks at our clothes and hair. There's no sign of Garmadon.

"He used the Mega Weapon again!" Cole groans as I shove a few strands of my hair back into my hood.

"Oh, swell!" Jay throws his arms up. "Every time he uses that thing, something really bad happens! Now what?"

The entire room starts to shake, slowly at first, but more violently as sand starts to fill the room.

"Does anyone else feel that?" I ask, reaching out a hand to steady myself against a shuddering wall.

"What's going on?" Cole asks.

"Is the city sinking?" Jay's voice trembles.

"Worse," Zane says, his cool eyes scanning the room with grim light. "The city is returning back into the desert. As if it had never been found in the first place."

"What?" Kai shouts as sand starts to pile up and bury everything in the room. "What does that mean?"

"What's happening?" Nya cries as the sand reaches her waist. Spitfire whirrs as I raise my arms above the level of the quickly rising sand.

"Garmadon's gone back in time to make it so Lloyd never turns into the Green Ninja!' Zane answers.

"I can't… I can't feel my hands," Lloyd stares at his trembling hands as the sand reaches his waist. It starts to creep up my chest.

"No, no, no," I shake my head. "That's impossible. If Lloyd doesn't become the green ninja, I don't- nngh!" A hot flash of pain bolts through my arm like a streak of lightning, scorching my veins like wildfire as I tug my sleeve up in a wild panic. Spitfire swirls in terrified circles, his muted orange eyes wide and horrified as I stare down at his faded shape, like I'm looking at him through tissue paper. "_Shit_."

Kai struggles to move against the sand. "We have to go in!"

"If he changes anything, he changes everything!" Sensei shouts to us. "Protect the future!"

Cole grabs my hand and helps pull me out of the sand as we leap into the vortex. I bite back a scream as I'm ripped away from him in a swirl of light and sound that lasts only seconds before we plummet.

The boys yell around me as we fall, and I just manage to right myself and light my feet before they splatter into a grimy pond. I land nearby on dull grass that looks darker in the fading light, and just start to catch my breath when I hear Jay's voice behind me.

"Remind me to pack a helmet next time we time travel," he moans.

"Where are we?" Cole asks.

"You mean, _when_ are we?" Zane corrects as he glances around the humid land around us.

"There isn't much around here," I pull my hood off to help myself breathe after the insane flight. "Just a shop."

"A shop?"

Kai squints at the small building some ways away, shifting forward through the murky water of the pond for a better look. "Four Weapons," he reads. "Huh. My parents shop. Nya and I used to work there- hey, wait a minute! This is the day Garmadon ordered the skeletons to take my sister! We need to warn them! We can-"

"Whoa, whoa, you heard what Sensei said!" Cole stops him as they start to emerge from the pond. "We change anything, we change everything."

"Yeah, I was confused by that too," Jay mumbles as he wrings out a sleeve.

"What he means is our world is the result of past events that have already happened. If for whatever reason events in our past fail to happen, the future can radically change," Zane explains. "Like with Lloyd, and Ash."

I fight the urge to take another look at Spitfire. "So this is just the beginning," I swallow the sandpaper in my throat as Zane nods grimly. "What I am now is because I met you guys, and because of what Lloyd is. Whatever Garmadon's already done has started to change things, and if it keeps going..." I shake the dark thoughts away.

"Uh, so what you're saying is we got to stop Garmadon from changing anything?" Jay asks, and Zane answers with another nod. "But of all the times, why did we land here?"

"Cause this is where it all started," Kai says as he looks back up toward the shop. "Today I met Sensei Wu for the first time and I began my training as a ninja! Somehow, Garmadon is going to try and prevent that. But how?"

"Ugh," Cole shakes his head. "If only Sensei were here to guide us."

A white shape appears on the road leading to the shop, and as the light focuses it becomes a familiar face.

"Ooh, look, there he is!" Jay points. "Maybe he can!"

"We gotta tell him what Garmadon has done!" Cole agrees.

"But we can't let the old Kai and Nya see that we talked to him or else it will affect the future," Zane says.

"What happened to not changing anything-"

"I know exactly what to do!" Kai runs up the road behind Sensei, followed quickly by the others.

My teeth grit. This is a bad idea. Sensei had warned us exactly of what would happen if we changed anything, but another glance at Spitfire's trembling shape and I feel my resolve waver. I tug my sleeve back over my wrist and race to catch up to the ninja.

Kai leads us up the road, being careful to stay out of Sensei's sight as we huddle against the side of the shop. Spitfire whirrs weakly against my wrist, and I just have to say something.

"Don't you think this is a bad-" they shush me before I can get my sentence out. My teeth grit again, but I stay silent.

A few seconds later, Sensei begins to pass our hiding spot before Kai grabs him from behind, clamping a hand over his mouth as he drags him into the shadows.

"Sensei," Kai hisses into his ear as the old man squirms. "We need your help."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Jay says as we pull off our hoods. "If we're trying to stop Garmadon from changing anything, wouldn't talking to Sensei be kind of like altering the past, thus changing our future?"

"That would be correct," Zane grimaces. "I believe a big 'uh-oh' is in order?"

"Maybe next time you'll listen to me before rushing off on some stupid plan?" I let out an exasperated breath. "Honestly, we're playing with my existence here."

"Ugh, but we can't undo what we've already done," Kai grimaces back as the old Sensei Wu turns to him. "Sensei, we really need your help."

"All four of you," his eyes are wide and unbelieving as he faces each of the ninja, then he notices me. "No, five. You…You..."

"Traveled back in time to warn you of impending doom," Cole says.

"Yeah, but we don't have time to explain," Kai grimaces. "Can you help us?"

"I… don't understand," Sensei shakes his head. "But I can try."

"Okay," Kai breathes a sigh of relief. "Any moment now, the skeletons are going to attack and we think Garmadon may try to hurt me. I-I mean the past me."

"Garmadon?" Sensei gasps.

"We have to do everything in our power to protect my past self," Kai says.

"Guys, look," I point out to the horizon where the evening sky is quickly darkening with an ominous cloud. Kai scowls.

"That's them."

"Garmadon," Sensei mutters to himself. "I haven't seen him since that young man…"

"Young man?" I lift my head. "Whim?"

Sensei just starts to speak when Kai cuts him off. "Now's our time. The skeletons are going to come over soon. Whatever happens, we have to keep my past self safe."

"Alright," Sensei shakes his head. "I will help you however I can, though I don't see how-"

"Trust us. What happens today defines the future, and if something goes wrong…" Kai glances at me, and I look away. "Well, we can't let that happen."

* * *

"Can we help or not?" Kai asks, watching anxiously as his past self clumsily fights a mob of skeletons. The sky above us is dark and laced with purple, making the skeleton's bright bones stick out like beacons in the low light. The old Kai lashes with his scimitar at a skeleton, who deflects it easily. The sound of metal on bone shrieks out over the roar of engines as another dozen skeletons circle the shop on motorcycles. Spitfire swirls anxiously on my wrist, and my heart sinks whenever I look at his pale outline.

"Don't look at me," Sensei answers the present Kai. "I'm wise, but not _that_ wise."

"Uh, technically since the past has already been altered, I don't see why we can't fight a few skeletons…" Zane says carefully. "Just as long as your former self never sees you."

Cole lets out a little laugh. "You made my day, Zane. I missed beating these guys up."

There's a noise behind us, and we turn as Jay lets out a wild yell and charges at a group of skeletons that had tried to surround us.

"Watch for when Samukai throws his daggers," Kai hurriedly tells Sensei. "A-and don't forget to save me!"

Sensei just answers with a blank look of confusion.

"Uh, it'll all make sense when it happens!"

Kai rushes out of the hidden alcove and into the yard with Sensei, leaving the four of us to deal with the other swarm of skeletons just moving in.

"Nothing like reliving the glory days, huh?" Cole grins at Zane, who nods back. I glance down at Spitfire and try to ease the knot of tension in my stomach.

The boys rush at the skeletons with mingled cries, but I stand my ground. A few skeletons fall beneath them, but another few creep closer to me, their skulls grinning.

"Hope this works," I mutter to myself as I raise my arms.

The first skeleton lunges at me and I force him back with a kick to the ribs. A second swings at my head with a bone staff that I duck under and into a third. The second grabs me from behind, wrapping thick arms around my throat. I grab his arms and kick out at the third before he can raise his sword. I flood all my fire into my hands, creating a powerful blaze that sends my attacker toppling back with a scream. I send him on his way with another strong burst of fire. Spitfire purrs on my arm triumphantly, giving me the dragon's equivalent of a smile as he swirls around my wrist. My chest heaves for breath.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Cole asks me as he ducks a skeleton's punch and knocks him back.

"Yeah," I gasp back. "I think. Just really winded for some reason-" Something snaps in my mind like a crack of lightning and I fall with a scream. Blistering pain explodes in my arm as my fingers tear at my sleeve, just managing to tug it out of the way as Spitfire lets out a strangled cry and completely disappears. I stare at my wrist, waiting for him to come back, for something to happen, but the blank skin just stares emptily back up at me.

"Ash, what happened?" Cole and the others appear beside me, eyes wide as they catch sight of my buzzing, empty skin.

"He's gone," my mouth opens and shuts a dozen times as my entire body starts to shake. "He's gone- hell- I lost him-"

"Ash, breathe," Cole crouches down beside me as my chest heaves. I try to follow his orders and squeeze my eyes shut. My head falls between my knees as I struggle to catch a panicked breath. Cole mumbles something in my ear that I don't make out as my vision clouds with dots and-

"Breathe. We're going to fix this, Ash, I promise. You have to breathe. Focus on my voice."

I take a massive breath, one that feels like I'm swallowing a mass of swords, and stuff all of my anxiety into a dark corner of my mind.

"Right, right," I nod hurriedly and scramble to my feet too fast for my head to catch up with, and it spins like an out-of-control carousel. My hair falls thick and wild below my shoulders, and I blink and tug at it. "Wait, this isn't right. My hair hasn't been this long since… since…"

"Before you met us?"

My lungs shudder as I clench my eyes shut again. Someone touches me and I feel the heat inside me twist and snap in a way I haven't felt in years. I tug it back, feeling my stomach roil with nausea as I realize my suit is also gone- replaced by an outfit I haven't worn since I lived alone in the woods. My wrists are completely empty of Spitfire and the bracelet Cole had given me, and it's nearly enough to make me scream.

I take in a shuddering breath and try to follow it with another as I open my eyes. "What the hell happened? I thought we fixed this already?"

"Something must have changed," Zane shakes his head. "You are reverting further to how you were before you met us."

"No, this can't happen," I shake my spinning head. "If I never met you, I would never have found out what I was, become what I am- I would still be-"

My breath catches again, threatening to throw me back to the ground. "Desmond would still be-"

"We have to get Kai and find out what happened," Cole's jaw sets before I can finish voicing my terrifying thought. A comforting hand finds my shoulder. "We're going to fix this, Ash."

"Right," I hurriedly nod. "Of course." My hands clench as I force myself to tug my sleeve down over my hand. The familiar heat from Spitfire is gone, and I feel colder than I have in a long time.

* * *

We find Kai hidden behind a fallen water tower, the old Sensei by his side.

"Oh, this isn't good," Kai shakes his head as we join them.

"Why?" Sensei asks. "We saved you and your sister."

"No, the skeletons were _supposed_ to get away with Nya," Kai grimaces. "The only reason you convinced me to become a ninja in the first place was to get her back."

"Oh," Sensei blinks. "I see."

"Sensei," Zane locks cool blue eyes with the old man. "No matter what, you need to convince Kai to go with you."

"Why?" Jay asks.

"Because if Kai doesn't become a ninja, the world as we know it won't exist," Zane answers. "The four of us will never unite, will never train Lloyd to become the Green Ninja. Ash will never realize who she is and conquer Desmond to become the Queen of Ninjago. And Nya will never fall head over heels for Jay!"

Jay panics and he grabs Sensei wildly by the collar. "No matter what!" he shakes Sensei violently. "You need to convince him to go with you!"

"Uh," Sensei starts to say something before the past Kai starts to round the corner. Sensei waves frantically to us and we clamber over the water tower to watch from the top. Something flashes between my fingers as I lower myself down beside the boys, but I clench my hand and it disappears.

"Thank you for your help," the past Kai breathes in relief. "If it weren't for your twistitsu or your tornadsu, my sister would've been taken!"

I cough to cover a laugh as the others snicker and give Kai pointed looks. The red ninja's face flames.

"Uh, spinjitsu," Sensei corrects him from below. "Uh, come. We must train. You must become a ninja."

The past Kai laughs as the past Nya joins him. "Sorry, but I got a blacksmith shop to help get back on its feet, so I-"

"No!" Sensei interrupts him. "You must come. It is very important that you become a ninja. Because uh, we must harness the fire within you."

"Hold on, Kai," Nya says. It's a little disorienting seeing her so young and without her bracelet, and I start to worry of how she and the others are doing back home. Especially if I'm already reverting. "Maybe there's a reason this man came into our lives. Father always said the world works in mysterious ways. I think it sounds kind of exciting!"

"Huh, okay, if you want to become a ninja, fine by me," the past Kai shrugs. "But I'm only going because you want to."

"Ah, great, he's going," Jay breathes a sigh of relief. "We saved the future!"

"Not so fast," Zane shakes his head. "We still have to make sure he becomes a ninja in order for everything to get back on track."

"How are you doing, Ash?" Kai asks, and I dismally shake my head.

"I haven't changed back," I answer. "Whatever it is, something's still not right."

"Maybe we just have to give it some time," Cole says. "Who knows? By the time we get to the dojo, you'll look the same as you did this morning."

I struggle to return his optimism, but my stomach still twists with heat and nausea. "Right."

We leave the shelter of the water tower feeling a little more optimistic, but by the time we're most of the way down the hill my wrist is still blank as ever and my hair hasn't returned to its normal length. When Nya wasn't captured, the changes had taken place almost immediately. If everything's fixed, shouldn't it be just as quick?

I shake my head and keep following the retreating shapes in front of me. Maybe Cole was right. Maybe I just have to be patient and everything will be back to normal in no time.

Or so I hope.

* * *

"You must harness the fire within you, Kai," Sensei says as the past Kai is knocked down by a sandbag. He gets back on his feet quickly, dusting himself off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbles as he walks away, eyes rolling. I shift a little in my spot on the roof, trying to be careful not to make any noise.

"Oh, I'm worthless!" Kai's head falls onto his arms in defeat.

"It's like you don't even want to be ninja!" Jay says.

"Look, I told you, the only reason I became a ninja was to rescue my sister," Kai says.

"If Kai doesn't learn to be a ninja, our future will be destroyed," Zane says with a glance at me. My hands clench on the edge of the slanted roof. "We're lucky all that's happened to Ash so far are physical changes."

_So far? _"I'm terrified of what's happening back home right now," I say. "To the others. If I never joined you, who knows how far Desmond would have gone? What I would have done?"

Kai grimaces. "And I thought saving my sister would be a good thing."

"Ugh, even when Garmadon does something good, it's always evil!" Cole shakes his head. Below, the past Kai slumps against a post and ignores Sensei's pleading to keep working. He grimaces. "Sensei ain't cutting the mustard, so I guess it's up to us to get things back on track."

"I thought you said not to get involved," Jay protests. "Change anything, change everything?"

"That was before Garmadon altered the past and changed the future," Cole says. "Now we gotta clean up the mess."

"He's right," Zane nods. "The only way to save our future is for Kai to find his fire."

"Wh-What are you trying to say, Zane?" Jay asks.

"I'm saying we have to give Kai his motivation back," Zane looks back down into the courtyard. "We have to kidnap Nya and deliver her into the hands of the skeletons."

Kai grimaces, then lets out heavy breath. "If that's what it takes," he agrees reluctantly. "Okay. If it's alright with you guys, I've got an idea on how I can talk some sense into myself."

"If it gets me Spitfire back, do what you need to do," I nod. "I haven't felt this vulnerable since we were turned into kids."

"But when that happened you weren't at risk of disappearing from existence," Cole's hand tightens around mine. "We're going to fix this, no matter what it takes."

He's optimistic, but the coal in the pit of my stomach grows.

* * *

"Ash, could you give us some light?"

I nod and carefully let a few spatters of fire spark from my hand. The roof beneath our feet glows into better view as we rush along its seam, Cole in the lead. The bag Zane's holding rustles as he runs, but besides that the only sound is the soft muffle of our feet on tile.

We pause over Nya's room where Zane finds us an air vent. With a squeamish complaint about dust from Jay, we squeeze into the tight vent one after the other and drop quietly into the room. I smother my fire against my palm, frowning when a few flames refuse to go out.

The inside of Nya's room is dark without the light, but we can still make out the softly-sleeping shape of the would-be Samurai bundled among several blankets. She had mentioned a couple of times that she got cold easily, and I'm once again hit by a stab of fear for how our Nya must be doing in whatever future we've managed to create. I take another deep breath as we tug off our hoods and Jay approaches the bed, staring lovingly down at Nya's shape as he brushes a few strands of hair from her forehead.

"Time to play our parts," Cole whispers in the darkness as he hands out the skeleton masks clutched in his hands.

"We'll have to act quickly while Kai is keeping himself busy," Zane says as he fastens his on. Mine is too big for my face, adding an extra inch to my chin, cheeks, and forehead, and I struggle to put it on straight. Thankfully, the white ninja reaches out to help me as the Cole and Jay pull theirs over their faces.

"So we're just going to stuff her in that bag?" I ask, my voice muffled against the plastic teeth of the mask as it sticks uncomfortably to my face. Kai had bought them cheap at a Halloween store nearby, and I'm starting to feel why they were so inexpensive. "It seems a little… rude."

"We can't risk having her see who we are," Cole says. "It might change something else. We can apologize to her in the future."

I stare down at Nya's innocent face, noting Jay's own reluctance as I let out a sigh. "Let's do this fast."

* * *

"Unhand me, skeletons!" Nya shrieks from the bag, making Jay wince.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Nya," he apologizes and shifts her slightly over his shoulder.

"How'd you know my name?" she asks. Cole turns to glare at Jay, and he returns the exasperated look with a nervous chuckle. "Oh, when my brother finds out about this, you'll be sorry!"

"Actually, he'll be quite relieved," Cole chuckles, and I can't help but laugh.

"Uh, guys? We've got company."

My eyes follow Zane's outstretched finger to the training yard, where three dark-clothed shapes dart between the shadows. Jay stutters and the three of them look up at the sudden noise.

"Uh, i-isn't that uh, us?" the blue ninja stares, wide-eyed, at the other two.

"Better lower our masks so they don't recognize us," Cole says as we pull our skeleton masks over our faces. We'd taken them off to breathe easier, but a few more minutes of comfort isn't worth whatever might happen to me next. So I ignore the stickiness on my face and do my best to look skeleton-like as the past ninja advance on us.

Jay leaps into the training yard with his past self, throwing a barrel which his other self dodges. They match each other blow for blow, neither one hitting the other. I'm transfixed by the almost dance between them before my attention is redirected back to the advancing past Cole and Zane.

Zane pulls out his shurikens defensively, but Cole waves him down.

"Let's not hurt ourselves, boys," he grimaces. "I'd hate to leave a mark."

Zane nods and grabs a few loose tiles from his feet, using them instead to unbalance his past self. Nya lets out a loud scream from her bag. We're close to the past Kai's room, and if he hears and tries to come and save his sister… well, I can't let that happen. I make my way toward her, inching around Zane's duel with himself to reach the bag.

I'm cut off by the past Cole. His dark eyes meet mine in a challenge before he lunges, aiming for my stomach. I dodge him and aim a blow to the back of his head but he whirls around too quickly, catching the edge of my mask with an elbow. The knot unravels with the force and the mask falls, clattering on the tile and leaving my face exposed. The past Cole regains his footing and lowers himself back into a fighting position, then stops when he realizes he's not fighting a skeleton anymore.

His eyes widen. "Wow," he breathes, as if in awe. His face reddens. "You're really-"

The present Cole cuts him off with an attack from behind. The past Cole turns away from me to fight his future self, who waves frantically to me.

"Grab Nya!" he shouts, pointing to where the bag is balanced precariously on the roof. As I watch, Nya lurches and the bag starts to topple, sliding down the tile and toward the yard below. I run after her, throwing myself onto the roof and reaching out, only for my fingers to close around air as she plummets to the ground with a scream.

A red shape appears from nowhere, and I breathe a sigh of relief as our Kai catches his sister before she can hit the ground. He gives me a nod of reassurance as I scramble back to my feet, snatching up my fallen skeleton mask before it becomes another problem. Kai jumps onto the roof seconds later, balancing near the edge of the fighting.

"Guys!" he shouts before lowering his voice to make it less recognizable. "Let's get out of here!"

The boys nod and throw their past selves into the training yard with spinjitsu. I just manage to rejoin them on the dark side of the roof when Sensei and the past Kai appear in the training yard, looking distraught and confused.

"They took Nya," Sensei tells the past Kai.

"Huh?" the past Kai's eyes widen in panic. "They took my sister? No!"

Something shifts in the core of my body, and I just manage to clamp a hand over my mouth before I cry out. The boys look to me as I shudder with the force of… something.

"Ash, your hair!" Kai gasps, and I reach back to feel the hair I remember from this morning. My heart races with excitement as I tug up my sleeve and find a pair of familiar, if confused, orange eyes blinking back up at me.

"He's back!" I beam. "We fixed it, he's back!"

"I told you we would," Cole winks and I laugh and kiss his cheek beneath the mask.

"We'll get your sister back," Sensei says below, reassuring the past Kai with a hand on his shoulder. He glances up at us and gives us the slightest nod before turning to the three black-clad shapes in front of them. "But first, I want you to meet your team."

"So this is how you guys first met," I smile as I lean against Cole's shoulder.

"Well, minus the whole having to fight ourselves and Nya getting kidnapped a few days late," Cole shrugs.

"Speaking of which," Kai grins. "It looks like the fire returned." He gives me a wink. "In more ways than one."

"Now all we have to do is deliver Nya to the skeletons and everything will be back to normal," Zane nods.

"Then we find Garmadon and end this," Cole says, his jaw setting determinedly as he gets to his feet. "Let's get moving."

* * *

I'd thought it would be interesting getting to see firsthand how the ninja met, trained, and recovered the Golden Weapons together, but after a few days of drudging cross-country, stowing away, stealing unnoticeable food, and constant fear that every decision could wipe my existence from the face of the planet (not to mention having to stay out of sight the entire time) - I've decided I would've been better not knowing. Thankfully, after we dropped Nya off at the skeleton's camp, there have been no changes to my appearance or abilities, and I've started to let myself feel a bit more optimistic about the situation at hand.

Now (three Golden Weapons and countless close-calls later), we face the end of our stressful journey camped just a little ways away from the last Golden Weapon- Kai's Sword of Fire. It lies just beyond our forest encampment, hidden in a volcano and guarded by yet another dragon.

"Stella told me once that these temples used to be the homes of ancient rulers of Ninjago," I yawn to Zane as I struggle to get comfortable lying on the branch above him. It had been Jay's idea to sleep in the trees to give us a better viewpoint and to keep ourselves hidden, but the idea was much better than the execution. "They didn't move to where the Sanctuary is until Whim decided to give up his throne."

"It does explain why there are such ornate buildings in remote parts of the world," Zane muses back.

Jay groans from his fitful spot. "Why are we still here?" he grumbles with a glare down at his past self. "I thought everything was back on track!"

"Yeah, but we have to stay and make sure all goes as plan," Cole whispers back, his eyes scanning carefully over the sleeping ninja below us. It's bizarre seeing two copies of the same person so near each other, especially now that they're dressed similarly. I shudder with the sudden memory of Garmadon's evil clones. "We can't risk Garmadon changing something else when we're not looking."

"But nothing's changed!" Jay moans and slumps back against the tree trunk. He jars my arm, and for a second it lances with white-hot pain that makes me yelp.

"You okay, Ash?"

"Yeah, I think something bit me or-" I bite down on another scream as the pain clenches tight on my bone, spreading up into my shoulder like lightning. My heart starts to thud as I realize what this must be, and I frantically tug up my sleeve as my entire being suddenly starts to change.

My clothes change from Hale's suit to my outfit from the forest, and my hair rockets until it scrapes my shoulders. The bracelet Cole had made for me has disappeared, and as I rip my sleeve up from my wrist I realize that Spitfire, too, has completely vanished.

"Oh no, something's changed!" Kai's auburn eyes widen.

"No, that's impossible! We've been watching ourselves all night!" Cole shakes his head and tousles already mangled curls into his face. "How could something change?"

"Garmadon must have done something on his side," Zane says. "To affect what happens next."

"But this is happening faster than before," my heart clatters against my ribcage as I struggle to keep my panic under control. "Spitfire faded, then disappeared last time. Now I'm suddenly the way I was before. Something's wrong. Really wrong."

"So what exactly happens next?" Sensei asks, and I notice for the first time he's joined us in the tree.

"Our former selves have most of the Golden Weapons," Kai answers, his eyes narrowing as he struggles to remember every detail. "Shadow Garmadon now should have my sister. In about one minute I get woken up and tricked into taking the Sword of Fire that will eventually unleash the greatest nemesis onto Ninjago."

Below, a familiar red shape moves into view just within the forest. The past Kai wakes up slowly and spots it. The fake Nya waves for him to follow as she runs off, toward the volcano, and the past Kai follows, shouting her name.

"Whatever Garmadon has changed must affect what happens within the volcano," Zane says.

"Then let's go," Kai's jaw sets determinedly as he leaps from the tree. We follow, though I stick the landing shakily.

Zane helps me to my feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine. Just- ah- nervous," I give him what I hope is a reassuring smile. Cole offers a grimace.

"Ash, if you don't want to come-"

"Of course I'm coming."

"I mean that if you'd feel safer staying behind, we can handle this-"

I give Cole a pointed look that isn't fake. "I'm fine. Or at least I will be once we fix this."

His look doesn't change and I take another deep breath. "We'll fix this, I know we will. But we need to stick together, especially if we have a chance of getting back to our own time."

"She is right," Zane says. "Splitting up would be a poor choice, especially since it is her existence on the line."

"See? Zane agrees with me, which means I'm right," I start after the others. "So we should get going."

Cole still doesn't look entirely convinced, but doesn't say anything more as we catch up to the others and chase after the past Kai and Nya. With every step, the sudden burst of confidence I've had over the past couple of days is swallowed by the cloud of dread that storms through my chest.

The first time something changed, Spitfire was dimmed, but he didn't disappear. Not until Nya was saved from the skeletons. The changes are happening much faster now, and if something else changes in the volcano-

I force the dark thought aside. "We'll be okay," I mutter to myself. "We'll fix this."

The ominous shape of the volcano looms overhead, and my heart sinks even lower.

* * *

We diverge from the past Kai to hide along the edge of the temple. I crouch behind a rock with Zane, my hands slick with sweat that has nothing to do with the heat. My arms tremble, and I stick them closer to my sides.

"This is when I steal the fire sword and cut my sister down," Kai explains to Sensei two rocks over. "Then I got attacked by my own shadow."

In the middle of the room, Nya is suspended by a thick chain over a pool of lava. It lurches as she's lowered down, closer to the steaming pool, and it takes all of my restraint not to dive after her as she screams. Thankfully the past Kai hesitates only a second before he rushes forward and grabs the sword of fire from its stone. He uses his spinjitsu to cut the chain and grab his sister before she falls, depositing her safely on the opposite side of the lava lake as he lets out a relieved breath in sync with my own. The moment doesn't last long, however, as Garmadon's familiar dark chuckle fills the room.

"You can't hurt us! You're only a shadow!" Kai shouts as he and Nya make their way back to the entrance. On the wall in front of them, a shadow rises, glaring down at them with blazing, all-too-familiar, red eyes.

"This time, I'm actually much more," Shadow Garmadon sneers.

"Wait, he never said that-"

The rest of Kai's sentence is cut off as my head explodes with pain. I cry out and stumble back, falling against the wall of the cave as my legs give out.

"Ash!"

My hands tremble almost uncontrollably as my fingertips slowly start to fade, their outlines blurring before disappearing completely. My entire outline begins to fade, flickering in and out of focus like an old tape.

"Wh-what's happening?" Jay asks, his green eyes wide with horror.

"It's the future," I manage to stutter out. My tongue feels numb and heavy in my mouth, and I'm terrified to know what that means. "I no longer exist. I'm- I'm fading."

"No!" Cole grabs my arms. "We can still fix this, we still have time-"

"We have to do something," Kai shakes his head, looking back to the fight between his past self and the just-appeared present Garmadon. "I don't stand a chance against Garmadon's four arms!" His eyes widen with a revelation. "Wait, that's it!"

He rushes off toward the fight as Garmadon sends the sword of fire spiraling out of the past Kai's hand and toward the present one. Kai snatches it up and jumps in front of his past self. He lowers the sword and faces down both Garmadons.

"We have to help Kai," Zane says as he watches the fight.

"Go on ahead, I'll stay here and watch Ash," Cole answers, hands unmoving from mine.

I shake my head. "You're not helping me by staying here," I give him the most determined look I can muster. "I can take care of myself. Go."

He hesitates, but his grip eventually relaxes and he sits back. "Alright," he mutters. "I'll go."

"Thank you," I cough to dislodge the lump in my throat. He starts to get up, but I stop him with barely visible fingers. "Wait."

He turns back to me and I pull down his hood just far enough to kiss him. For about two seconds, everything fades away to blissful nothingness, but then I pull away and reality crashes back into place.

"I'll be here when you get back," I say, voice still and surprisingly calm. "I promise."

Cole grimaces, but manages a sigh before rushing off with Zane to help Kai. Jay is about to follow them when Sensei turns away and starts to head back toward the entrance.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jay asks.

"You mentioned the Mega Weapon was forged from the original Golden Weapons," Sensei answers. "Their power might just be enough to destroy the Mega Weapon and reset all events that have transpired here. Without it, Garmadon wouldn't have been able to come back and distort the past, thereby saving the future."

Jay nods. "Then let's go," he starts after Sensei, but pauses to look back at me. "You sure you'll be alright?"

I nod as the rock beneath my legs suddenly becomes visible. "Just go," I say. "Do what you need to."

He nods again before disappearing out the entrance with Sensei. As soon as they're gone, another blast of pain clutches at my head. My vision swims as I struggle to focus it, and when I finally do I find myself in an entirely unfamiliar place.

I'm sitting against the wall in a brightly lit cave. The air smells of fire and brimstone, and on the opposite side of a fiery lake, dark shapes fight each other in the light of the lava. I struggle to remember how I got here, but nothing comes up. I was hunting in the woods. I'd just raised my arm to throw a knife at a deer then… nothing.

I look down at myself and jump as I realize I'm almost entirely see through. My legs and hands are just dim unfocused shapes against the stone, and the light doesn't reflect off me in the slightest.

This must be a dream. I'd never come into a volcano willingly, not after all my experiences with fire, much less be some sort of ghost. I get to my feet, surprised I can even stand on the ever-fading shapes of my legs.

Across the room, three shapes, red, white, and black, are thrown onto a rock in the center of the lava pool. They look vaguely familiar, but I can't place them in my memory. I shake my head free of the thought and start to look around for the entrance. Even in a dream, the heat and presence of fire gives me an overwhelming feeling of dread, and all I want to do is run out of here and never look back.

A blue shape appears on the opposite side of the room, and he/she/it throws two gold shapes toward the ones stranded in the lava. Together, the four of them use the gold shapes, no, weapons to unleash streams of elemental magic at a dark shape towering over them. A fifth, white shape appears and shouts something I don't catch and whatever the dark shape is holding is thrust away from his grasp to float high above the lava.

A high, screeching noise fills the room and I clamp my hands over my ears, looking up just in time to see the four gold weapons be tugged from their user's grasp to spiral toward the fifth hanging above them. There's a bright flash of light that forces me to look away, and suddenly everything comes rushing back. Everything that's happened, everyone I met, what I am, who I am, what I'll become. How could I ever forget?

The room shakes around me, nearly sending me toppling into the lava before I regain my balance. I turn back to the center of the room where the ninja stand, fighting to keep their footing. I raise an arm to wave to them, but freeze when I see my barely visible hands.

"No," my voice comes out as a just audible breath. I'm fading faster than I was before, but painlessly. I stare down at my hands and watch as my fingertips completely fade from sight, then my hands, my wrists…

"Ash?" Cole's voice rips through my trance. I look up at him and see my own horror reflected in his eyes.

"This shouldn't be happening!" I shout, voice trembling. "We fixed everything-" I gasp as my entire body starts to disappear and my vision darkens.

"No!' Cole rushes toward me as I try to fight back, to stay, but it's no use.

"Cole, I-"

His panicked face is the last thing I see before everything goes black.

* * *

"I can't believe I lost _again_," I slump back against the wall and use my shirt to wipe the sweat from my face. As much as I pushed myself and used my power, Whim was still too strong and fast for me to keep up with. He said trust was the key to defeating him, but right now all I'm feeling is exhaustion.

The door bangs open and Lloyd pokes his head in. "Are you done?" he asks, blowing a few white-blond strands out of his face.

"Yeah, what time is it?" I ask as I get to my feet. My knees pop painfully, and I can tell it's been a long time.

"Almost nine," he answers as he pushes the door the rest of the way open. "Hurry, we're going to be late for training!"

"No, _you're_ going to be late for training," I reach up to ruffle his hair as I join him in the hall. It isn't as soft as it was when he was younger, but still manages to embarrass him a little (much to my satisfaction). "I'm just taking my time to prepare a lesson plan."

He gives me a pointed look that makes me laugh. "I'm joking," I roll my eyes. "But we should go and see what those boys have been up to all day, though I'm a little scared to know."

"It is a little weird that we haven't seen them all day," Lloyd agrees as he falls into step beside me. "They even missed dinner. The last time that happened, you guys were turned into kids by Garmadon's magic potion thing."

"More of an evil smoke bomb," I correct. "But you're right. We should have seen them by now. Whatever's keeping them away from us, I'm sure it can't be anything good."

Lloyd and I chat amiably all the way to the training room, where he excitedly rushes ahead of me. The action brings a smile to my face, reminding me just for a second of how he was before he hit the fast-forward button on his life. The door clatters open with a push of his hands as he bolts into the training room. I follow at a more normal pace.

"Sorry we're late, guys, are we ready to get training?"

I hear Kai let out a gasp. "You're still here!"

Puzzled, I enter just as they surround Lloyd in a group hug.

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Lloyd asks, throwing me a confused look. I respond with one of my own.

"You guys okay?"

Cole looks up at the sound of my voice, his entire face lighting up as he tackles me in a warm, tight hug. "Ash, you're alright!"

I cough against the crushing pressure on my ribs, but he doesn't let go. "Uh, Cole- you're crushing me."

He hurriedly puts me back down on the floor. "Sorry, I'm just glad you're okay."

"Okay?" I echo, looking from him to the other strangely relieved ninja. "What's gotten into all of you? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, why were you gone all day?" Lloyd asks.

"So when we went back in time and destroyed Garmadon's Mega Weapon, that didn't change anything?" Jay asks, and I can't hold back a snort of laughter.

"My father has a Mega Weapon?" Lloyd's eyes widen.

"You time-traveled?" I raise an eyebrow. "In what, a police box?"

"Wait, you've never heard of the Mega Weapon?" Kai asks as he picks up a watermelon from the floor and throws it into the air, deftly slicing it into four perfect pieces.

"I think I would've remembered that!" Lloyd shakes his head as he catches a piece. Cole catches one too and hands it to me. "Why, what is it? Should I be concerned?"

The four ninja start laughing, much to our confusion.

"Guys, seriously. What's going on?"

"Yeah, what are you guys laughing at?" Lloyd asks. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just…" Jay shakes his head. "WE can't believe you've never heard of the single biggest threat we've been facing for weeks-"

Kai elbows him hard, and Lloyd and I exchange confused looks.

I shake my head. "Honestly, guys, this is the worst joke you've tried to play on us yet. You could have at least _tried_ to make it believable."

Lloyd nods in agreement and takes Kai's sword before tossing his own piece of watermelon into the air. With a few deft slices, he carves it into the perfect image of a dragon. I offer him an appreciative nod that makes him smile.

"So what exactly is all this about?" I ask. "You guys disappear all day and now you're trying to sell us some time travel story? Honestly, what happened to you guys?"

Kai laughs. "I think some things are best left in the past," he answers with a chuckle. "Come on, let's just prepare for the future."

The four ninja start laughing again, and all Lloyd and I can do is exchange confused glances.

"I don't get it," Lloyd says.

"Me neither," I shrug. "Best we can do is play along and pretend we understand." I shake my head. "As a wise man once told me, unless you can learn from the past, ignore it."

"So we're just going to ignore this?"

"Unless you have a better idea?" I shake my head before taking a bite of the watermelon. It melts almost immediately in my mouth, leaving a trace of sweet sourness on my tongue.

"This is good watermelon," I say, trying to change the subject. "It disappears right after I take a bite."

"As long as that's the only thing that disappears," Cole winks, and the four of them start laughing again.

Lloyd gives me another puzzled look before I shake my head and take another bite.


	13. The Stone Army

_Hello and thanks for all the lovely reviews and reads :) Things are really starting to heat up, and I hope you continue to let me know what you think as the story goes on._

_Thanks!_

_- Fell_and_Fallen -_

* * *

My alarm blares through my subconscious, tearing through my pleasant dream until I'm blinking into blinding reality. I roll over in bed, snatching for the snooze button, but my hand knocks the clock off the stand and sends it backwards into the crevice by the wall. I let out a few muttered curses and drag myself from the warmth of my covers. Most of the joints in my body strain and crack as I get to my feet, but a stretch takes care of the rest.

I reach behind the bed stand and dislodge the still rattling alarm clock, gratefully clicking it off just as the door opens.

"Good morning, sunshine," Nya greets me with a blurry smile as I rub my eyes. She's already dressed and looks as if she's been awake for a while. "Happy Wednesday!"

I grumble something less than polite and put my alarm clock back on the table. "Remind me again why I have to do this?" I turn to her. "I do mostly private training now. Why am I doing sunrise exercise?"

"Sensei says you have to keep your body just as fit as your mind."

"But I already-" I shake my head. "Never mind."

"The boys should be up by now," she glances at the clock. "But you still have some time to wake up before exercise starts. Ultra Dragon made a bit of a mess outside, and a couple of them are going to have to clean it up."

"You mean _Lloyd_ is going to have to clean it up."

She grimaces. "More likely than not."

I shake my head. "I know he's kind of a kid, but that doesn't mean they can force all their chores on him."

"You mind telling them that?"

I sigh. "If I have to."

"Good," she holds up a couple of hangers she had behind her back. "Because I got you those shirts you wanted."

"Awesome," I grin as I take them from her hands. "I'll try them on-"

She gives me a pointed look that makes me amend my statement. "_After _I deal with the boys."

Her smile returns. "You better hurry then."

"Right, right," I roll my eyes as I drop the shirts on my bed and head out the door.

* * *

I don't touch down on Ultra Dragon's roost until Lloyd is already done cleaning up. He wrestles a large bag buzzing with obnoxious flies, and as I get closer I start to smell why.

"I always have to do the dirty work," he groans as I approach, gagging as he holds the bag away from his face.

"Hey, having a pet dragon requires a lot of responsibility," Cole shrugs as he and the other ninja stretch and watch from nearby.

"Responsibility you don't seem to have," I give them a pointed look, which Cole returns with a roll of his eyes.

"Didn't your mom ever let you have a pet?" Jay asks, ignoring me.

Lloyd tugs off his goggles with a grimace. "I don't remember my mother," he answers in a quieter voice. "She abandoned me when I was really young."

"She just… left?" Kai blinks. "Who took care of you?"

"I spend my whole life at Darkly's Boarding School," he shrugs as his gaze drops to the ground, the bag and its disgusting contents completely forgotten as he's sucked into his memories. An intense, palpable sadness hangs over his shoulders, and I just open my mouth to say something when a screeching alarm goes off overhead.

"Hey, I have a mission for you guys!" Nya's voice peals from nowhere. I look up as she slides down the Bounty's anchor chain and hits the ground running, sprinting the rest of the way toward us.

"It's the Museum of History," she says breathlessly, wiping a couple of beads of sweat from her forehead. "They've asked for you guys. Something really strange has happened."

"What?" Kai asks.

Nya just shakes her head. "You're gonna have to see it to believe it."

"Nothing more than that?"

"Sensei is going with you," she answers me. "You should hurry. It's… it's bizarre."

"Sounds like our kind of thing," Cole heads off toward the ship, followed by the other ninja as they hurry to grab their gear. I pause as I realize Lloyd has hesitated.

"Here, Nya, hold this," Lloyd hands her the buzzing bag and goggles before he rushes off, grabbing my hand to tug me behind him.

"Wait a minute, what am I supposed to do with these?" Nya shouts behind us, but her voice fades as we approach the ship.

"That was close," he grins at me sideways. The smile is forced, and I feel my chest tighten.

"Lloyd, about your mother-"

"Leave it," he shakes his head and he releases my hand once we're in the shadow of the Bounty. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It isn't healthy to keep things in like this, you'll explode."

"Says the master of anger issues," he rolls his eyes, but amends the expression once I give him a pointed look. "Sorry, but this isn't something I like to think about, okay? We have a mission now and I don't have time to think about my childhood. It's like you said- if you can't learn from the past, ignore it."

"I meant that about specific unpleasant memories, not your mother."

"It's kind of the same thing," Lloyd's jaw sets as he grabs onto the rope ladder. "Look, we can argue about this more, but we have a mission. We can talk later."

I want to say more- a hell of a lot more, actually, about Lloyd's attitude toward his mother, but I have to admit he's right. Whatever's happening at the museum is important enough to warrant Sensei and scare Nya, and we're going to need all of our focus on the problem. As much as I want to sit Lloyd down and figure out what's going on with him, we don't have time for this.

So I grit my teeth and start up the ladder after him.

* * *

The curator's head snaps up as soon as the door swings open, and his entire body relaxes with overwhelming relief.

"Oh thank heavens you're here!" he exclaims happily, pattering toward us as we approach him. With a glance around the museum, nothing looks out of the ordinary, much less 'really strange'. I'm starting to wonder what Nya saw that made her so worried.

"We heard there was an emergency?" Sensei asks, sounding as put off as I feel.

"Yes," the curator hurriedly nods. "Come, come. This way."

He leads us toward a tall pair of double doors, waving hurriedly for us to follow. Cole and I exchange confused glances before we all follow.

The doors open into a long hallway lined by several cleaning crews all scrubbing at some glowing substance seeping from the walls. It looks eerily familiar, but I struggle to place it in my memory.

"The Stone Warrior exhibit opens to the public tonight," the curator continues, diverting my attention back to his quivering shape. "And this couldn't have come at a worse time."

"Uh, _what_ couldn't have come at a worse time?" Kai asks.

"Ninjago City appreciates your help in destroying the Great Devourer some time back, but it appears its toxic venom has seeped into the city sewer system and has had the most… unusual after effect," the curator explains. Jay, Kai, and Lloyd pause beside one of the pools and immediately recoil from the fetid fumes.

"What kind of 'unusual effect' are you talking about?" I ask, ignoring the cries of disgust from behind me as I catch a whiff of what they've just taken full force. It's like rotten eggs crossed with sour milk, and even as I quickly walk away from it, it continues to burn my nose.

"I'd rather let you see it for yourself," the curator grimaces as he stops beside another pair of double doors. He takes a deep, stabilizing breath before throwing them open.

It takes me a second to process what I'm seeing, but inside what would normally be the museum gift shop is an army of tiny, animated, warrior bobble heads with glowing green eyes and squealing voices.

"The toxicity in the venom somehow brought our merchandise to life!" the curator cries from beside me. A vase crashes to the ground somewhere in the store, followed by high-pitched laughter. "They're so unruly! I didn't know who else to call!"

One of the warriors leaps at Zane and he catches it, staring at it for a second before it slashes at his face with its miniature swords. Startled, he throws it to the ground where it shatters into a dozen pieces.

"Nya was right," I grimace as an expensive-looking statuette is shoved off a shelf and shattered into a million pieces. "This is… bizarre. The Devourer's venom caused this?"

The curator hurriedly nods. "They just sprang to life and started breaking things! A couple of our workers have already been injured, and I didn't know what else to do! Please, can you handle this?"

"We've got this covered," Jay grins as he confidently pushes past me. "I think we can handle a few toys."

The rest of us follow Jay into the room as the curator staggers backward to shut the doors. "And please, would you contain the fighting to the gift shop?" he adds. "The doors to the new exhibit will be open soon. Thank you!"

The doors slam shut behind us, and the tiny warriors charge.

They leap off shelves and swarm toward us, splitting us apart. At least a dozen push me away from the group, slashing at my ankles with their swords. I crush a few of them underfoot, wincing as a few of their swords stab between the armored scales of my suit and into my feet, but still manage to stagger back toward the wall. I let out a careful burst of fire, weary of the carpet and shelves around me, and successfully melt a few into puddles of bubbling mush.

I hear the boys shout above me and look up to see the ninja, minus Lloyd, spiral through the room, sucking the warriors into their spinjitsu tornadoes and flinging them against the wall where they shatter into thousands of grey pieces. Of course, they also suck in piles of merchandise, and Lloyd narrowly manages to pull me out of the way of a granite statuette that rockets toward my face and shatters into the wall.

The dust slowly settles, revealing an absolutely destroyed shop. Nearly everything in the room has been completely decimated, minus the shelf Lloyd, Sensei, and I stand in front of. Everything else has been reduced to piles of broken glass and twisted plastic at our feet.

"Uh," Zane mumbles as he looks around at the devastation. "Oops?"

Something chuckles behind my ankle, and I turn just as Sensei shoves past me and out the door, hurriedly chasing after a single surviving toy warrior. The boys approach the door.

"Maybe we should clean this up," Jay says with a grimace at the annihilated gift shop.

"I think we should go and see if Sensei needs help," Cole starts to edge out the door, followed by the others as he gives me a quick smile. "You guys can take care of this, right?"

"Excuse me?" I say as the four of them rush out the door, leaving me with Lloyd and piles of destroyed merchandise. A stream of angry smoke huffs from my mouth. "And they preach about responsibility."

"Do we really have to clean this up?" Lloyd asks, his feet crunching on the remains of a bobble-head.

I shake my head. "Honestly, if the curator was so worried about it not being destroyed, he would've told us," I turn back to the door. "Besides, he's had it coming since he tried to have us arrested as kids. Come on, let's go find the others."

Lloyd and I head out of the gift shop and into the hallway, where a few scattered voices echo through the empty, vaulted ceilings. It's difficult to tell exactly where they're coming from, but we manage to trace the sound into an adjoining hallway, where the ninja stand huddled around Sensei. The boys block most of the view, so I can only see the top of Sensei's hat as we approach through a pair of tall, mahogany doors.

"Uh, yes, this is Misako," Sensei introduces someone I can't see. "Lloyd's mother."

Lloyd freezes beside me as the ninja part, shuffling backward to show an older woman standing with Sensei. Her hair is gray and her face is streaked with smile lines and faint wrinkles, but her grey eyes are strikingly familiar as she looks up at me and the green ninja standing beside me. She lets out a gasp as she sees him, her face brightening with a familiar smile.

"Lloyd?" she breathes as she approaches him. I move away from Lloyd, bowing my head to let Misako pass. Her eyes are soft and adoring on her son as she takes him in. "My little boy. You're so much bigger than I remember."

"Yeah, well, it's been a long time," Lloyd grimaces, flinching away from her touch as he takes a step back.

"I didn't want us to meet like this," Misako continues in the same gentle voice. A frown touches her lips now. "I have a reason why I've been away."

"Well I don't want to hear it!" Lloyd growls, a spark of power crackling from his hands as he turns away and runs out the door.

"Lloyd, please!" his mother calls after him, but he shows no signs of hearing her as the door slams shut behind him, loud enough to resonate through the hall. Misako's outstretched hand closes to emptiness.

"He's burdened with old wounds," Sensei says carefully in the sobering atmosphere. "It will take time for him to understand."

"He has plenty of reason to hate me," Misako stares at the door where her son disappeared. "I've been away nearly his entire life."

"He doesn't hate you," I shake my head, my face nearly flaming as Misako turns to me with Lloyd's eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to speak out of turn or anything, but I've known Lloyd long enough to realize he's just… hurt. Right now he's… having a tantrum."

Misako chuckles. "You must be Ash, the legendary Dragon Queen of Ninjago. I've heard a lot about you."

My face floods with heat. "Not a legend, just lucky."

"Legendary enough to not only be a guide for all of Ninjago, but a friend for its spinjitsu master," she offers me a kind smile. "You know my son well. Probably better than I do."

I shake my head. "I just happen to have a lot in common with him. I lost my parents young, too, so I get how it must hurt to see you after so long. He doesn't hate you. I mean, he might try but Lloyd is really incapable of hate," a wistful laugh slips from my lips. "And I've done a few things to make him hate me. He's just… sad that he grew up without you or his father, that he didn't have the storybook childhood. You just need to have a good heart-to-heart talk with him. He'll listen."

"I read much about the wisdom of the rulers of Ninjago. I never thought I'd witness it firsthand," she smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder.

I blink. "Yeah, I'm not really that wise."

"I'll say," Jay snickers, earning an elbow from Cole.

"I think it's time we go and find Lloyd," Sensei say, offering Misako a kind smile. "To have a proper family reunion."

* * *

"Misako found Lloyd!"

I leave an exhibit on ancient rocks (something Jay had gotten really excited about given the fact he used to collect them as a child) and head out into the main hallway, where Kai waves to us from a cracked door.

Our footsteps echo in the dark hall as we enter together, and I blink to adjust my eyes to the dim lighting. Lloyd sits at the edge of a roped, gaping hole, his legs swinging over the side as he steadies himself with clenched hands. His mother stares at him from the opposite side of the hole, her eyes sad but determined as she walks along a line of wall scrolls. As we close on the pair, I realize they depict the history of Ninjago.

Misako's soft gaze remains focused on her son. "Long before time had a name," she begins with a glance at the intricately painted scroll. How anyone could paint so beautifully defies any reasoning, especially since they look older than the invention of erasers. "Ninjago was created by the first Spinjitsu Master-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard this story a hundred times," Lloyd growls, turning his face away from his mother. A frown tugs at my lips, but Misako seems unfazed. Instead, she gives her son a smile.

"But you've only heard half of it," she turns back to the wall scrolls, where dark and light shapes are spiraled in perfect calligraphy. "In Ninjago, there's always been balance between good and evil. So you know how the first Spinjitsu Master created Ninjago, but what if I were to tell you, in order for there to be light, there must be shadow? And within shadow, there is darkness. The blackest of darkness that existed from the very beginning."

She turns to us, her grey eyes suddenly darker as the room seems to swallow her words. "An evil spirit called the Overlord."

Spitfire swirls anxiously at the sound of that name, his heat tightening uncomfortably on my wrist as his orange eyes widen with fear. I rub at him in an attempt to calm him down.

"Did you know about this, Sensei?" Zane asks, his cool eyes widening as Sensei turns his head.

"I had hoped if I kept the secret, that name would never be spoken again," Sensei whispers in response. His hand tightens on his staff as he shakes the dark thoughts aside.

"The balance was at stake," Misako continues, "and their battle could have gone on for eternity. Each side powerful, neither could conquer the other. Until the Overlord created his indestructible warriors: the Stone Army. The Spinjitsu Master did what he could, but he knew he would soon be defeated. So instead of losing the war, he divided Ninjago in two and created his own warriors."

"Wait a second," I peer at a small, bright shape on one of the scrolls. "That's Stella!"

"Who?" Jay asks.

"The first ruler of Ninjago," I answer, my breath catching a little as I recognize Stella's pristine young face among brilliant gold lettering, her features rendered in loving detail. "The Queen of Light."

Misako nods. "The first Spinjitsu Master forged a contract with her that would protect the land for generations, even when he couldn't. In exchange for elemental powers, she and her descendants would rule Ninjago and guide it away from darkness," she says. "And, when Ninjago needed them most, defend it with his power."

"The Dragons," I breathe, and she nods again.

"And luckily, since then, there has been no trace of the Overlord or his Stone Army," her smile flickers. "Until my recent discovery."

"So that's why the battle has yet to be decided," Kai says. "It was never finished."

"But where is this Dark Island?" Cole asks. "I've never heard of it."

"Disappeared, I presume," Misako answers. "But the legend states that so long as the balance between good and evil remains even, the Overlord shall remain trapped from this world." Her gaze falls to Lloyd, touched with a grimace. "I have always feared your father's ambition would ultimately lead to a shift in the balance. That is why he must be stopped."

"We have each felt the power of the first Spinjitsu Master," Sensei says. "Passed onto us in the form of the elemental weapons. But now that power has been inherited by the green ninja, which is why only Lloyd can defeat the ultimate evil. Or else all of Ninjago will fall prey to its darkness."

"Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Misako's voice falls to an agonized whisper. "But faced with saving you and the world, I had no other choice."

Lloyd's gaze drops, and when he speaks it's in a barely audible voice. "I thought you hated me," he mumbles. "I thought you left me at Darkly's because I reminded you of Dad. I devoted my life to trying to be like him, to get him to accept me, but I know now that I was always meant to be the green ninja, to be good."

"I always knew that you would become what you are, no matter what you faced," Misako smiles. "And I know Garmadon still has some good in him, hopefully enough to save you both."

Lloyd looks up, his eyes dry and his jaw set. "Have you discovered a way to prevent me from facing my father?"

"I'm sorry, not yet," Misako shakes her head. "But I have reason to believe there's still hope."

Something slams outside, making the ground tremble under our feet as the whole room begins to shake. I nearly stumble over into Kai as the door suddenly explodes inwards in a cacophony of ear-splitting sound and flying wood that cuts into any exposed skin. A deep, gravelly voice roars something in an unfamiliar language, and as the dust settles we're faced with a monolithic, four-armed samurai with blazing green eyes.

Jay staggers backward with a wild yell. "Excuse me, will somebody please tell me what the heck is that?!"

"The Stone Warrior," Misako answers, her eyes narrowing as she joins Lloyd.

"The Devourer's venom has awakened him!" Zane stumbles back. The thing is massive, swallowing the room with its bulky armor and gleaming swords. I barely manage to swallow the sandpaper that's suddenly filled my throat.

"Ah, great," Cole shakes his head before turning to the nearest person. "Kai, take care of him!"

"Uh, me?" Kai looks nervously between Cole and the Warrior.

"Cole, you are not shoving the responsibility to someone else this time-"

"No, I got this," Kai gulps in a shaky voice as he pulls his hood down. He draws his sword and faces down the Warrior. He takes a deep breath. "Okay, blockhead. Take this!"

He rushes at the Warrior, leaping into the air and slicing downward toward its chest. The Stone Warrior deflects his blow in a bright flash of fire and Kai falls, pieces of his sword scattering around him.

"Wow," Kai blinks at his shattered hilt. "In my mind's eye I saw that playing out entirely differently."

The Warrior reaches out and pulls Kai up by one foot, dangling him twelve feet in the air with a wild scream.

"The Overlord created his Stone Army from an indestructible material only found on the Dark Island!" Misako shouts to Kai.

"Great, you could've mentioned that earlier!" Kai yells back before the Warrior throws him backward into the other room with another scream.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing?" Jay asks, looking from the Warrior to Sensei.

Sensei grits his teeth and turns back to Lloyd. "Lloyd, use your powers!"

Lloyd steps forward and raises his arms. His eyes are closed in concentration as a ball of intense green energy surrounds his hands. He opens his eyes and sends a beam of violent power shooting toward the Stone Warrior. The Warrior disappears in a flash of light that erupts in flames, and the others start to cheer. Something stirs inside me.

"Something's not right-"

The Warrior suddenly looms through the flames, cutting off all sense of victory. Its eyes blaze as angrily as the fire as it glares down at us.

"Uh, wait a minute, how are we supposed to destroy this thing?" Cole takes several steps back.

"You can't," Misako answers, tugging Lloyd farther away from the door.

"We have to do something," I grit my teeth and pull my hood down over my face. "Kai is still on the other side, and unless you plan on jumping down that hole, we're trapped."

The boys give me mixed looks, but follow my movements.

As we near the doorway, the Stone Warrior crashes through, sending stone and masonry raining down on our heads. Zane throws his shurikens, but they deflect like ping pong balls off the Warrior's sword. Cole is sent flying with a kick, and Jay is knocked backwards with a single swipe of a sword. It moves to crush Jay underfoot, be he moves out of the way and faces it.

"Easy big guy," Jay grimaces. "Maybe this is a sign you need to lose a few pounds!" His nervous laughter is cut off as the Warrior slices at him again, sending him sliding backward toward the pit.

"I guess it's my turn," I gulp more to myself as I stare up at the towering Warrior. Spitfire blazes to life on my arm, and together we face the monolith.

The Warrior swings a blade at my head and I duck under it, moving closer to aim a slice of fire at its ankles. The flames scatter as if they're hitting a brick wall, and I'm suddenly blindsided by another of the Warrior's four swords. I just manage to get a grip on its blade and hold on before I go flying, and as soon as it realizes I haven't let go, the Warrior lets out an ear-splitting roar. It shakes its sword violently in every direction, jolting my head and body like a ragdoll's until my fingers finally slip and I sail into the next room. I slam into the wall hard enough to jar my head, and for the thousandth time I bless Hale and his suit.

A bright blur hurries over to me. "Are you alright?"

I blink away the haze and realize it's Kai, looking pretty okay for having crashed into a brick wall at high speeds. I answer him with a grimace. "I don't think anything's broken."

He answers with his own contorted expression. "I wouldn't speak so soon."

He helps me to my feet where my head swims sickeningly in a swirl of muddled thoughts. I clench my eyes shut and wait for the dizziness to pass before Kai lets me go.

The others join us just a few seconds later, thrown through the shattered doorway by the rampaging Warrior. Misako hits the ground hard, and I move over to help her up. She seems dazed given the cut across the bridge of her nose, but offers a reassuring smile as I help her to her feet.

"This is gonna be much harder than a bunch of bobble heads, fellas," Cole grimaces as he sits up with a crack of his back.

"Well then, it's a good thing we're in a museum," Jay mumbles as he approaches the ravaged doorway.

"Why is that?" Misako asks.

The Stone Warrior crashes through just feet away from Jay, and he looks up at it with trembling legs.

"Because we're all about to become history!" he takes a dozen steps back. "Run!"

The Stone Warrior crashes after us as we make a break for it, heading deeper into the museum over cracked floors and broken exhibits. I glance back at the same time Lloyd does, realizing that the Warrior is catching up, fast.

"The guy's got a pair of sneaker's on him!" Lloyd shouts before giving me a push. "Pick up the pace! Go, go, GO!"

My muscles scream as I force myself to go faster, running just past Misako and keeping pace with Cole.

We enter another empty gallery, bolting up a wide staircase and onto the balcony level. Behind us, the Warrior keeps pace, running just feet behind Jay and Lloyd.

"Oh, man," Kai says breathlessly from the front. "He's pretty fast for a big guy!"

We rush past two pairs of tall doorways that the ninja slam shut behind us. Zane jerks back as the Warrior's sword smashes a chunk of his door, retreating until we're all cowered beneath the skeleton of some prehistoric animal.

"This thing is unstoppable!" Cole trembles as the Warrior glares at us through the gaping hole, screaming something in its garbled language.

"Indestructible, to be precise," Zane corrects, his voice trembling.

"That door ain't gonna hold him forever," Kai shudders.

"Then let's settle this like men!" Jay says, holding his hand out. "With rock, paper, scissors! Loser has to face him so the others can escape!"

I slap his hand away. "You can't be serious!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Kai glowers as he holds up his own hand.

I feel my teeth clench. "If this is your master plan, then I'm in on it too."

I shove hand in the circle. Cole opens his mouth to say something, but I give him a look that kills the words in his throat.

Lloyd reaches out to add his hand to the game, but Jay swats it aside. "Not you, Chosen One."

"On three," Kai nods nervously to the rest of us. "One, two-"

"Wait a minute!" Lloyd shouts. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Sensei asks.

"If you guys can keep him busy, I think I know how to stop him," Lloyd's eyes flash eagerly.

Cole and I exchange glances. "I say we give the kid a shot," Cole nods.

"You're just saying that cause you're too afraid to face him!" Jay charges.

"Do you want to face him?" Cole gives him a pointed look as the Stone Warrior smashes his sword into the doorway again, making the walls rattle.

Jay blinks. "I say we give the kid a shot."

Lloyd turns and spots something on the far wall, bolting away from us with no more explanation. He rips out the opening to what looks like an air vent and crawls inside. He's just about to disappear when Misako stops him.

"Be careful Lloyd," she gives him a loving smile. "And good luck."

He smiles back. "Thanks, Mom." Then he's gone.

Misako shakes her head wistfully at the now empty vent. "I can't believe that's Lord Garmadon's son."

Sensei offers her a smile. "Don't forget, he's yours too."

Misako returns the smile. "He's had a good teacher."

"You mean _teachers_," Sensei turns his dark gaze on us.

"We need to come up with a plan to stall the Warrior," Cole says as the door bangs continuously behind us like a massive disembodied heart.

"There has to be some way to trap him," I look around at the prehistoric displays. "Something that could hold him long enough for Lloyd to carry out his plan."

Zane stares up at the ceiling. "Would that suffice?" he points up to the giant skeleton that looms over the entire room, suspended by only a few wires.

A smile spreads on my face as a plan begins to form. "I think it'll be perfect…"

* * *

The Stone Warrior smashes through the door and lumbers in, all swords raised. I flatten myself against one of the display platforms and peek over its edge, my heart humming in my ears. Spitfire whirs silently on my arm, his orange eyes sparking with my own anxiety.

The Warrior scans the room, looking for any sign of its prey as it carefully steps forward. It stops a dozen yards from the skeleton's shadow, and I curse under my breath. Looks like we'll have to do things the hard, dangerous way.

I step out from behind the platform, stopping a few feet in front of the shadow's tail. I take a deep breath and try to calm my raging nerves.

"Looking for someone?" I call out, my voice cracking with tension. The Stone Warrior whips around at the sound of my voice, eyes flashing with malicious green light as it catches sight of me. It ambles forward into the shadow and I take a dozen steps back.

"Now!"

Nothing happens. The Warrior roars and crashes toward me, swinging a blade at my head almost too fast for me to dodge. I clatter to the side as the blade crushes the floor where I stood and showers me in chunks of tile.

"Anytime!" I scream as I duck a second sword swipe and bolt between the Warrior's legs. It turns quickly, almost smashing me underfoot as it crashes back beneath the shadow. Cole shouts overhead, followed by a dozen cracks and snaps as he leaps onto the skeleton and slices through its wires with his scythe.

The Warrior looks up, completely forgetting about me as the skeleton's massive bones plummet toward it. It lets out a wild yell just as I roll out of the way, narrowly avoiding the skeleton's skull as it crashes to the ground in a shower of broken tile.

"Whoa, direct hit!" Jay yells from somewhere above me.

I carefully get to my feet, coughing as I inhale a cloud of dust that pervades every open pore of my body. I struggle to dust myself off as the others emerge from their hiding spots.

"Did we get him?" Cole asks as he appraises the mountain of bones and dust. I give him a pointed look.

"It took you long enough," I wipe a smear of grime from my face. Another cloud of dust sputters from my lips. "Seriously, you had the easy job."

"It was high up, and I wanted to make sure you were ready."

I arch an eyebrow, and he rolls his eyes.

Kai picks up a shattered bone. "That has to hold him for a while. That's tons of weight-"

An ear-splitting roar shatters the room, shoving us all back a dozen steps as an armored hand breaks through the top of the bone pile, grasping at empty air.

"It's still here!" Kai staggers back with a shout.

"Do you think Lloyd is ready with his plan?" Zane asks.

"I hope so," Cole grimaces. The mountain of bone lurches and we take off, heading into another hallway as the Warrior lets out an earth-shattering roar.

Misako stumbles and Sensei reaches out to help her, but she pushes him away with a sharp look. "I may not be a ninja, but I can look after myself."

Her grey eyes scan the balcony before she reaches over the railing and grabs one of the fabric wall scrolls, using it to rappel down to the lower floor. She reaches the ground safely and beckons for us to follow.

"Well, I see where Lloyd gets the attitude from," Kai remarks, and I manage a chuckle.

The others take to the wall scrolls like Misako, but I leap from the balcony and settle myself down in an arc of fire. Once on the floor, we head toward a doorway on the opposite side.

We're halfway across the room when the Stone Warrior crashes into the tile behind us, scattering the ninja and Sensei. The Warrior glares down at me and Misako, who stands frozen.

"Run!" I shout as I push her forward, clenching my eyes shut as my head is shattered by the force of the Warrior's roar.

Misako and I flee into a hall lined with giant, antique vases. Gasping for breath, I push her behind a pillar and run across the room to hide behind another one. As soon as I duck out of sight, the Stone Warrior crashes in.

My heart hammers in my chest, jumping up another notch as the Warrior starts smashing the vases in its path. It's searching for us and lets out a guttural roar every time it comes up empty. I struggle to watch it from behind the pillar, flatting myself against it every time the Warrior turns my away. It's only a matter of time until it finds us, and I'm struggling to think of an escape plan through the screaming noise my pulse makes between my ears.

Misako peeks from behind her pillar just as the Warrior turns toward her. It seems to grin as she lets out a terrified gasp, staggering back as the monolithic creature storms toward her. I barely have a second to think before I bolt from my pillar and throw an arc of fire into the Warrior's face. It turns on me with a roar of anger.

"That's right! Over here!" I shout, waving my arms and jumping up and down to turn all of its attention on me. My breath shudders at the thought of fighting this thing myself, but another look at Misako's terrified face gives me the resolve I need. "Run!"

Misako takes off as the Stone Warrior screams and shoves me back toward the wall. I try to make a break for it, but my window of escape is cut off with a swing of a blade. The Warrior chuckles demonically as I stagger back, muttering a stream of curses as I scramble to find another way out. I run off in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by another wall of steel. My breath shudders, almost stopping when my back hits the wall. The Stone Warrior laughs and raises a sword, and my mind suddenly goes blank with terror.

The sword closes in on me and instinct snaps into place. I jolt to the side just as the smooth steel plunges into my suit, searing with excruciating agony into my flesh. A feral scream tears away from my throat as my entire body explodes with pain. Sweltering tears streak down my face as the Warrior's sword lurches inside my body, jerking agonizingly before tearing out in a scatter of blood. I collapse against the wall, falling in a streak of scarlet to the ground as the Warrior lets out a shuddering laugh.

My vision is a blur of tears and agony, but an intense heat sparks in my core, nauseating against my pulsing wound. I struggle to keep my stomach inside as I force my head up, watching as the Warrior begins to raise its blade again. Something clicks within me, and I find myself staggering to my feet as the sword closes on my exposed face.

My arm lifts with a will of its own, clashing with the Warrior's sword in an explosion of blistering heat and light as my fire blasts from my core in a scream of nausea and agony.

The Warrior throws all of its weight behind its swing, his arm shuddering and straining as I somehow manage to force it back with my power. A loud, screeching sound fills the air and it takes me a second to realize it's coming from me. A face appears in the flames- blazing orange eyes, crimson, rattling scales and fangs of fire. Spitfire's gaping mouth snaps at the Stone Warrior's sword and it disappears in a scatter of white-hot flames.

The Warrior stumbles back as I fall into the wall, blood dripping onto the floor as I sink to the ground in a twist of agony. My head buzzes to the point where I can hardly raise my arms, but instead of coming after me again the Warrior stares down at its empty hand, roars at me one more time, and rushes out after Misako.

My head slumps against the wall as exhaustion clouds my gaze. I push my hands against the dripping hole in my side, grimacing as it flares with pain. Spitfire swirls anxiously on my wrist. I manage a shaky smile.

"That's the last time we throw ourselves on the wire for someone else, alright?"

"Ash!"

I look up as Sensei and the ninja rush into the hallway, looking bedraggled and bruised but otherwise alright. I offer them a distorted smile.

"Hey, guys," my lips tremble with the force of keeping them up. My side flares as I struggle to keep it closed, and I'm starting to feel the stinging beginnings of the healing process. "How are you doing?"

"Is that… blood?" Jay gulps, pausing a few feet away as his eyes focus on the pool of darkness that surrounds me.

"Me and the Stone Warrior had a bit of a disagreement," I grimace as I struggle to force myself to my feet.

"You should be dead," Cole says as he and Zane help to steady me before I slump back to the ground.

"And luckily I'm not," I tug my suit to try and cover the jagged hole. "Honestly, I don't know how, but I'm glad I'm not."

Kai turns to the decimated hall ahead of us. "We have to find Misako and Lloyd. The Stone Warrior is still after them, and if Lloyd's plan doesn't work we're all going to have matching wounds."

We start to shuffle down the hallway, agonizingly slowly as I struggle along my buzzing legs.

"Why is it that I always end up with the mortal wounds, but you guys always turn out okay?" I ask, and Cole chuckles.

"Maybe if you stopped facing down indestructible enemies-"

I jostle Cole, only to stumble into Zane who gives me a look.

"If you would like to take your chances on your own-"

"No, no," I shuffle forward with a shake of my head. "You've made your point. We need to help Misako and Lloyd, and that means speed."

A quiet chuckle rumbles in Zane's chest, and I make a point of getting him back later.

What feels like an eternity later, we finally shuffle into the main gallery, where Sensei peeks into nearly every door before finding Misako and Lloyd in the destroyed remains of the room we started in.

We stagger in as Misako pulls her son into an embrace. The rope that had surrounded the hole is gone and the Stone Warrior is nowhere in sight, and I realize with a start what Lloyd's plan meant.

Jay lets out an appreciative whistle. "His plan worked after all."

Misako pulls away from Lloyd as we approach, but her eyes don't leave his. "I'm so proud of you," she smiles up at him, her grey irises filled with pride and absolute adoration. My heart swells against my aching ribs. "I feel like the balance has brought us together."

"Stay with us," Sensei whispers, and the pair finally turn toward us as if noticing us for the first time. "Help us fight the good fight."

Misako looks up Lloyd. "If that's okay with my son."

The tall ninja smiles down at his mother. "Hey. The more the merrier."

They embrace again, and I feel the force of blood against my hands stop. I peel my hand away to see the wound is already sealing itself up, and the pain deteriorates into a soft throb. I pull away from Cole and stand solidly on my own two feet, blinking down at my softly pusling side.

Cole's eyes widen. "You're healed already? But last time it took you days."

"The Spinjitsu Master and the Dragons are strongly intertwined," Misako says as she pulls away from her son to face me. "I have a feeling Lloyd's emotions are having an effect on you."

Lloyd blinks. "Wait, so because you and I talked to each other Ash is okay?"

"Not only that, but your powers are growing," Misako says. "What you unleashed on the Stone Warrior shows as much."

"You saw that?"

"I saw enough," she smiles as she turns to Lloyd. "As Lloyd continues to conquer obstacles, both of you will continue to grow."

"Until you are ready to face the final battle together," Sensei's hand tightens on his staff. Misako's eyes darken in the suddenly sobering atmosphere, until Sensei takes another breath.

"We should return to the Bounty," he says. "We have quite the story to tell Nya, and I believe this has been more than enough excitement for one day."

"Yeah, and I don't want to have to be the one to clean this up," Jay kicks a broken display box.

Kai chuckles. "I don't think they're opening that exhibit tonight after all."

"Let's not be the ones to tell the curator that," Cole grimaces. That's enough to push us all out of the room, and as we carefully make our way out of the destroyed museum I can't help but wonder about what Misako said.

I knew Lloyd and I had a connection. He's destined to be the next Spinjitsu Master, the last one being his grandfather to boot. My family was created by him to do what we're doing now- to protect the world from impending danger, especially now that I realize what being a Dragon means. But I never would have guessed how far it actually went. If Lloyd hadn't overcome his emotions about his mother when he did… would I even be alive right now?

I'm terrified to think of what more changes might come, especially as Lloyd's destiny creeps closer, but as I watch his shape moving in front of me I know I can't give up, no matter what happens. Knowing how much is at stake gives me the resolve I need to remember Whim's words and finally understand them.

Lloyd is going to need me. Whatever darkness is coming our way is something neither of us can face alone, and I need to be there to help him. It's what I was born to do, what my power was created for. Now that I know…

I'm going to be ready.


	14. Legacies

_Hello again :) I always feel as if I talk to much in these, but I actually have news this time, so hopefully I'm not too boring. Production of the sequel has already started *party streamers* and I'm hoping to give a sneak peek sometime soon, mostly because of a new OC I want to introduce. It'd be really great to have some feedback given that she is... a departure from Ash, but hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying writing it :)_

_Now to the actual chapter that is (hopefully) better than I originally wrote it. _

_Please R&R!_

_- Fell_and_ Fallen - _

* * *

The wind whistles in the darkness as I raise the glow of my flames to light the clearing. Whim has attacked me relentlessly from a different direction each session, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to take him even with this newfound resolve of mine. Thinking about being there for Lloyd, being powerful enough to face whatever's coming is one thing, but now that I'm standing on soggy ground looking for my hidden ancestor, I'm starting to feel a little less gung-ho.

Something explodes behind me, and I just duck out of the way as a cannon of water spirals out of nowhere, streaking through the darkness just above my head as I scramble to get out of the way. Ten seconds in and I'm already soaked. This isn't boding well.

The column of water rockets toward the edge of the clearing, stopping just inches from the tree line, and begins to circle back. I get to my feet, my hair dripping droplets of water into my face as I take a deep, warm breath. Spitfire whirrs on my wrist in an attempt to drive away the chill of the water, and gives me a confident dragon smile that stands in stark contrast to the knot in my stomach.

The water is making its way back toward me, spear-headed like an aquatic lance that has always pierced my consciousness and shoved me out of my meditation. Spitfire hums again, and I somehow manage to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Okay," I mutter to the much more confident dragon. "Here goes."

I raise my arms and Spitfire roars a wild scream, facing the water without a drop of fear as I clench my eyes shut and meet the oncoming tidal wave.

My fire meets Whim's water with a screech of steam and burning grass that quickly fills the air. Water streams around my shield, clutching around my flames with long fingers that struggle to quench the raging fire. My arms convulse under their tremendous power, and I can feel my shoulders wrench like I'm holding up a collapsing building, but this time I don't give up. My power twists and rolls within me, struggling to fill hands as I shove everything I have behind my fire. Spitfire lets out a determined snarl as I take one step forward, then another.

Whim's dragon appears, her sapphire eyes narrowed as she glares down at me and Spitfire. Spitfire leaps into the flames, snapping at the other dragon's face with tiny fangs of fire that nearly disappear into the might of the water dragon's scales. The two of them spiral into the air above me, Spitfire dwarfed by Whim's monolithic dragon. They snap and snarl at each other's throats, biting at the other's face. A burst of heat broils from my center and I feed it to the fire that's begun to spread.

The flames blaze brighter, changing color as the air scorches with heat. The sky turns gray with smoke and I can feel the weight on my arms begin to lessen. White flames turn every drop of the water that threatened to crush me into curls of steam, spiraling into the air before disappearing, useless. In a matter of seconds, Whim's dragon lets out a final, tremulous scream before also fading into nothing. Cobalt eyes vanish into the gray, and it's over. Spitfire returns to my arm in a tired swirl, curling around my wrist as I collapse to my knees.

"You did well."

My chest heaves for air as Whim approaches me through the fog, his outline blurred by the haze. I manage an exhausted smile.

"I did it," I cough as I try to regain my breath. "I finally beat you."

He chuckles softly, a faint sound deep in his chest. "Yes, you did. This time."

He raises a calloused hand, twitching his fingers almost imperceptibly as he gives me a smile that's all too familiar. The steam that swirls around us suddenly solidifies, molding together into distinguishable drops of water that hang for a second like tiny, suspended stars before he clenches his hand and they stream together back into the empty pond. He chuckles again at my stricken face as he pushes his sleeves up to reveal a very healthy (and rather peeved) silver-blue dragon.

"You-" I struggle to shut my gaping jaw. "You've been going easy on me this whole time?"

"Perhaps a little," he shrugs. "But you won this round fairly. You trust your familiar now."

"Yeah," I get to my feet a little shakily. Spitfire hums slowly, his nostrils flaring with exhausted smoke as I brush myself off of dead grass and ash. "Lloyd reunited with his mother and freed up a part of himself. Apparently his clogged up emotions helped me become a better fighter."

"Not just a better fighter," Whim says as he folds his arms behind his back. "But a better ruler. The two of you are directly connected. Affect one, affect the other. It is this shared connection to the first Spinjitsu Master that will allow the two of you to receive your final power and save the world. Your synchronization holds the key to unlocking the power that hasn't existed since the dawn of time. As such, you will continue to change and grow just as he does, until the two of you are directly united both in body and in mind."

I blink. "So you're saying Lloyd and I are… going to be fused together?"

Whim chuckles. "Not in the sense you are thinking. The two of you represent the contract that was forged centuries ago, when the First Spinjitsu Master faced the Overlord and his Stone Army. Once you and Lloyd have overcome the obstacles you each will face, you will stand ready to fulfill the contract Stella made, and bring light to the world we were meant to protect. It is your destiny as the last dragon, and his as the next Spinjitsu Master."

"I know I'm this 'mystical last dragon' and all, but what you're telling me…" I shake my head. "It sounds awfully final. What happens when I save the world? To my power? To our family? If I'm the last- what does that even mean?"

Something shifts on my arm, and I realize with a blink that Whim's put his hand on my shoulder. His blue eyes soften on mine as his other hand reaches to fix a few falling strands of hair and he gives me a warm, fatherly smile.

"There is still time, Ash, time for you to come to terms with your destiny," he says softly. "You have just reached the first step of achieving your power, and it wouldn't do to dwell on a future that is still a ways away."

"I know that," I shake my head. "It's just…"

"You're afraid, and rightfully so. You face a destiny unfathomable to any of us," he shifts his face to meet my eyes. "But I can assure you that we will bring you through it alright. Your friends, your father, us. You will be alright, Ash. I promise you."

Spitfire tightens on my wrist, a warm coil that reminds me of the gold on the other, of my promises, of my friends. My stomach seems permanently knotted with tension, like a rubber band stretched nearly to its breaking point. I'm not even sure why I'm afraid, whether it's for my friends, myself, or just the world in general. This power I'm supposed to receive, this connection I have to Lloyd, the idea of saving the world from an unimaginable evil- it's laughable just how ridiculous it all sounds, but all I feel is a coal of dread settle directly into the pit of my stomach.

Whim's grip shifts on my shoulder again, and I realize I've closed my eyes. I open them and meet my ancestor's gaze, the man who had faced a ridiculous evil himself not so long ago. I haven't heard the full story of his involvement with Sensei and Lord Garmadon, but if it hadn't have been for him doing what needed to be done all those years ago, there might not have been a Ninjago to fear for now. Whatever lies in the future- if fulfilling this ridiculous destiny means my grandchildren, or my friends' grandchildren live lives without being terrified of the nameless monsters on the horizon, then…

I take a deep breath and meet Whim's blue eyes with my own red, a constant reflection of our power and our connection. "So what do I do next?

He smiles, a wistful expression that overtakes his face as he lets me go and takes a step back, leaving me feeling a little colder than I was expecting.

"Now that you finally trust in yourself, you must learn to unleash your power," he says. "You may not be able to use your power to the extent that I can, but you certainly have an advantage over our enemies."

He takes a step back toward the pond, where my reflection has made a reappearance- the me that isn't me, or at least the me I haven't become yet. The coal in my stomach twists, and I struggle to extinguish it.

"You use your fire as a weapon, Ash, the way a warrior would," Whim continues, pulling me from my reverie. "But it is much more than that. You are the Queen of Fire. This element is completely under your control, it is an extension of yourself, just as your familiar is. Now that you know your power, you must learn to use it as a true Queen and Dragon. You will learn to defeat me with sheer force of fire and will, just as you defeated that Stone Warrior."

I blink. "How did you-"

"Your consciousness betrays some things, especially those that are on your mind," he answers. "Don't worry, I haven't been digging through your memories, just thoughts that may appear during our sessions. What you did against that indestructible enemy is what we will try to tap into, what will give you strength and resolve as you and Lloyd continue your journey."

He faces me with a soft chuckle. "I hope you don't mind starting later. I was entirely willing to start now, but Stella insisted she see you once you reached this stage."

I laugh at the idea of tiny Stella facing down Whim's tall, imposing form. Even in her adult state, she must be dwarfed by his sheer height alone. "I'm surprised she hasn't been here this whole time," I say. "She seemed so excited when I started training with you."

"I asked her not to," Whim grimaces. "I was afraid she might interfere."

"With what?"

The old king lets out a sigh, his shape flickering just a second as he does so. "When I failed my first few test against Oberon, she stepped in to help me. I haven't heard the end of it since, and given how long we've been around, I would hate to subject you to the same torment."

I blink. "Wow. I didn't think our family was big on picking on each other. I thought you were all, well… serious."

Whim chuckles. "A few thousand years with our ancestors and you'll realize it's like any other family. Stella is the only one with any control over the others, and that is only because she was the first. As such, I can't keep her away from our sessions any longer."

He shakes his head. "But we will worry about that the next time we meet. I've kept you here long enough, and I wouldn't want you to forget about your friends. Or sleep."

I laugh. "Thanks for looking out for me, Whim."

He chuckles. "Someone has to. Especially amongst our family. Now go to bed, you've had a long day and I'm sure you won't want to miss Zane's fettuccine alfredo."

I blink. "How do you know-?"

Whim gives me a final knowing smile before he disappears and my consciousness finally slips.


	15. Sneak Peek

_Just as the title says, this is a test for the next installment of the series (title pending) mainly because I'm trying out a new OC that is vastly different to the ones I already use. This is just a piece of the first chapter, and all you need to know before reading is the Valkyrie chapter of this story, which is Chapter 11 if you'd like to refresh your memory. I really hope you enjoy :) _

_- Fell_and_Fallen - _

* * *

"Please state your name for the record."

"Me," the microphone screeches as the girl presses her lips flush against its surface. "Bite, Me."

The officer that stands next to Zane sighs as the girl is ushered into an interrogation room nearby, the smile on her face completely unfazed despite the fact she's surrounded by at least a dozen officers. "This is the fourth time we've brought her in," he comments to the white ninja as they follow her path across the precinct. "We don't know her real name, who she is, or where she came from."

An intern brings the officer a file, and he lets out another sigh. "Let's see if I can get her to spill something more important this time."

The officer heads into the interrogation room as the ninja and Sensei huddle around the one-way mirror. The girl sits inside, her worn Converse slumped on the table as she sits back in her chair and fiddles with her handcuffs, looking up to greet the officer with a grin.

"Good to see you again, officer," she smiles as he takes the seat opposite of her. He doesn't respond and instead opens the folder.

"Do you understand the charges brought against you?"

The girl snickers and turns her face, illuminating a faint scar down the side of her jaw. "I'm sorry, but I'm not as fluent in moron as you and your partners are. Do you mind translating?"

The officer's eye twitches ever so slightly, but he keeps his head and begins to read: "Illegal interception of private data, breaking and entering, theft of private property, evading arrest, arson, assault with a deadly weapon-"

The girl snorts and turns toward the mirror as the officer continues reading, staring right into the ninja's eyes as if she can see them. Zane has to admit her intense blue eyes are rather unnerving. "_They_ were the ones waving weapons in my face. What else was I supposed to do?  
"And public endangerment," the officer finishes as he flips the folder closed. He sits back and gives her a pointed look. "These are very serious charges."

"And that's a very serious donut problem you have," the girl's eyes graze the powder that stains the officer's uniform. Jay snickers a little, earning a glare from his fellow ninja.

"What?"

Cole rolls his eyes and they turn back to the mirror, where the officer has shifted in his chair.

"There are people in the attorney's office who believe you should be in prison for the rest of your life-"

"Would they happen to be the assholes I stole from?"

The officer gives her another pointed look and continues. "But I think there's still time for you to do the right thing. Just tell us where you took the things you stole-"

The girl chuckles and shakes her head, turning her eyes back to the mirror. "Why aren't _they_ talking to me, hm? The people who _really_ arrested me?"

"This is the Ninjago City Police Department's jurisdiction-"

"Your jurisdiction, their arrest," she sits back in her chair. "I watched your men run for cover while they tackled me to the ground before I could fire a shot. You might be good in the political circle, but your police work sucks."

"I am here to discuss the charges with you, and-"

"And nothing," the girl's eyes narrow. "You and I both know the only reason you're even pretending to give me a deal is so you don't have to tell your superiors you couldn't crack me. Again. So I suggest you save your reputation and get them in to see me. Now."

The girl sits back and clasps her hands in her lap, keeping her eyes locked on the officer's as he stares her down. But after just a few seconds of standoffish silence, he breaks, lets out a sigh, and leaves the room.

As soon as the door clicks shut behind him, the officer turns to the ninja and Sensei.

"She won't talk unless it's to you."

"We heard," Sensei says. "If it is alright with you, I will speak with her."

"Sensei, wouldn't indulging her be a bad thing?" Kai asks. "Maybe we should just let her simmer for a bit."

Zane shakes his head. "This is the first time any of the Valkyrie have been in custody for more than a couple of hours," he says. "If we wait much longer, she might escape."

The officer nods. "Last time we had her, she was here for a solid thirty minutes before some of her friends blew up half the precinct to bust her out. We don't have the time or the funding to go through that again."

The girl stares at the mirror, her eyes fixed on the ninja as Sensei stares back. His weathered hand tightens on his staff. "Cole, you will come in with me. The rest of you, stay here."

Cole grimaces. "Sensei, I don't know if you remember, but that girl nearly killed me when we tried to bring her in."

"I know," Sensei doesn't look back at his student as he heads for the door to the interrogation room. "It may be helpful."

The door swings open and the girl's eyes shift to it, narrowing curiously at the old man and tall, olive-skinned ninja that follows him. Her fingers tap lightly against her wrist.

"What do you know, you actually showed," a smile tugs at her lips as she turns her eyes on Cole. "It's nice to see you again, handsome. Especially after you nearly bashed my head in."

"You wanted to speak with us?" Sensei asks, taking the officer's seat as Cole takes a deep breath. The girl wasn't in the best of shape, but she was a good shot- not one to be trifled with. He still has a searing cut where one of her bullets grazed his neck, and it seems to grow hotter with every second he's around her.

Her blue eyes shift to Sensei. "Yes," she pulls her feet from the table and leans forward on her elbows. "My father always told me not to waste time with people who were below me, so I always opt for speaking to my equals."

"One does not get far in life believing they are any better than everyone else," Sensei says sagely. He opens the folder that's been left on the table and sifts through it. "You endangered the lives of innocent people when you raided that factory and continue to endanger them with every second you keep the technology you stole. Do you believe they are beneath you?"

"I think some people get what's coming to them," the girl's smile widens ever so slightly. "That's something the Valkyrie believe in. If you want power, you take it. If you're too weak, well." She sits back, her handcuffs rattling. "Your loss."

"I see," Sensei nods. "And you are one of those in power?"

Her eyes narrow ever so slightly, but her smile doesn't fade. "I've always been rather ambitious."

"That doesn't answer my question."

The girl chuckles. "I like you, pops. You're an interesting guy. But I thought you'd be smarter than this."

"How so?"

"You and your little band of ninja were quite the story around the office," she twiddles a few chains between her fingers. "How you decimated Nova's base and had them all arrested. Of course, they didn't stay arrested for very long, but to do what you did in a single night was really something. I was expecting more from you."

Sensei thinks quietly for a few seconds before speaking again. "How old are you?"

The girl raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

His careful expression doesn't change as he repeats the question, this time more slowly. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-five," she answers without missing a beat. His expression still doesn't change, and she rolls her eyes. "Alright, twenty. What is it to you?"

"You are young still," Sensei says. "You have a long life ahead of you. It would be a shame to waste it behind bars."

The girl chuckles. "How cliché," she shakes her head. "Sorry, pops, but you know nothing about me. So please, cut the 'you're better than this speech' and skip to the part where I reassure you that I'm fine just the way I am."

"If I'm so cliché, then why did you ask to speak to me? Why not stop talking altogether?"

She grins. "I wanted to fulfill my personal curiosity. I've heard a lot about the wise Sensei Wu and his band of heroic and devastatingly handsome ninja," she throws Cole a wink, "and I wanted to see exactly how you were for myself. So far, you sound just like the broken record of my grandfather."

She sits back in her chair. "I'm unimpressed."

"Everyone is in need of guidance, especially in the most hopeless times of their lives," Sensei says. "Your grandfather may not have been able to guide you down the right path, but perhaps I can."

The girl chuckles. "You know, my father used to call me his perfect little angel," she blinks her intense blue eyes. "I used to be quite the girl next door. But then I woke up and realized the world was a shitty place and I decided I wanted to have some fun before it all came to a bitter end."

Sensei doesn't blink. "You are not the first person in my life to have that attitude," a wistful smile tugs his lips. "Which is why I believe there is still a chance for you to be saved."

"Saved?" she arches her eyebrows. "Haven't you been listening, pops? I'm the bad guy, evil incarnate. You have as much a chance of 'saving me' as making the sun set in the east and the birds sound like car horns."

"No one is ever truly evil," Sensei meets her eyes. "And you are no exception."

"Right," the girl sits back in her chair. "Tell me more about my inner goodness."

"Since you asked," Sensei continues with a sly look, which she returns with a roll of her eyes. "You are part of an incredibly powerful group, one known for its loyalty between members. The last time you were arrested, you were rescued within the hour, yet now you sit quietly and have not tried to contact anyone. Perhaps you don't want to go back?"

The girl snorts- a loud, obnoxious noise that nearly makes Cole jump. "Sorry, pops, but that's just… ridiculous," she shakes her head, tossing strands of straight, dark hair into her face. "The Valkyrie are my family. I would never turn my back on them, just as they would never turn their back on me."

"Then please, explain why they haven't come for you yet," Sensei sits back in his own chair.

The girl narrows her dark eyes. "Why would I tell you what the Valkyrie is planning?"

"I am only asking why nothing has happened yet," Sensei says. His calm voice is really starting to irritate her. "Why are you still sitting here?"

The girl twists the chain of her cuffs around a slim, calloused finger, brushing a thin scar across her hand as she chews her lip and stares back into the old man's dark eyes. He's trying to get under her skin, that much is for sure, and she can't say it isn't working. Something about his gaze makes her skin crawl.

"I'm not entirely a Valkyrie yet," she answers slowly and carefully, choosing her words as if she were placing them on a Scrabble board. "This raid was part of my initiation. To see if I could do what I pledged. So I hacked the security network, planned the attack, and led the raid. If things went wrong, I was supposed to do whatever it took to let the shipment get away."

"So you gave yourself up," Cole says for the first time. His sudden deep voice startles her, but she keeps her careful gaze. "You took the fall so your friends could take off."

"In the Valkyrie, you do whatever it takes for the good of the clan," the words from her pledge burn on the girl's lips as she speaks them for the first time in years. "Even at risk of yourself. The clan is everything."

"Well it looks like your club forgot a member," Cole shrugs, and the girl storms to her feet in a sudden blaze of anger.

"You better watch your mouth before I tear it off your smug face," she spits, her eyes slitted and furious. "I wonder what the ladies will think of you once that pretty little face is ruined."

Cole narrows his dark eyes. "Go ahead and try me, twinkle toes, we'll see how good you do without your gun-"

"Cole," Sensei gives his protégé a stern look. "Go to the waiting room. Now."

The black ninja rolls his eyes. "Fine, no more insensitive comments to the face," he shakes his head as he turns back to the door. "Sheesh."

The girl watches him leave, her knuckles straining white against the table as she pulls ever screaming, homicidal nerve in her body back into check.

"Forgive Cole. He can sometimes speak without thinking," Sensei gestures back to her chair. "Please sit."

The girl takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a couple of tense seconds before she retakes her seat. "Everyone in this city is dense," she says in a quiet, intense voice. Sensei can hear the anger that still strains her chest, and he keeps a careful hand on his staff. "The Valkyrie are the best thing to happen to this place since sliced bread and we don't get a word of thanks."

"True heroes do things because they are right, not because they expect an award."

The girl chuckles and raises her head, a streak of hair fluttering from her lips. "Did you read that in a fortune cookie?"

Sensei manages a small laugh. "I have been told my lessons may be a little outdated, though my students never fail to learn from them."

She sits back in her chair, her hands finally relaxing against her cuffs. "I'm surprised you can get them to learn anything," her eyes flick back to the mirror, where she knows the others are watching. Her heart still hammers in her chest from being so close to tearing out the black ninja's throat, and she clenches her hands a couple of times to squeeze out the tension. "They seem like quite the blockheads."

"I will admit that my training has it his blocks," Sensei nods. "But they are good students and have grown into good men. All of us have our potential. Whether or not we take it is the question."

The girl narrows her eyes thoughtfully at the old man. "I feel like this conversation is going in circles," she says slowly. "Why don't we cut to the chase? You want a deal? I'll make one."

Sensei raises a thick, white eyebrow. "And what kind of deal would that be?"

"You bring up a few good points," she says. "Not about me, necessarily, but about my future. There's still a chance for me to have a little fun before solitary."

She sits forward. "You get me out, I'll consider helping you get that tech back. I won't run. Thanks to you, every cop in Ninjago City knows my mug, so there's no way I'm leaving with my head on. I'm good, but not that good."

"But why would you help us?" Sensei asks. "Certainly freedom isn't your only goal. If it was, you would have run when you had the chance."

The girl rests her arms on the table, the chains of her handcuffs grating loudly on the metal. "I told you, pops," she gives him a wide grin. "I'm looking for a little fun, and you and your merry band of color-coded cosplayers offer quite the opportunity. It's just too good to pass up."

Sensei's dark eyes narrow slightly. "You understand me and my students are highly trained warriors," he says. "If you are looking for a chance to escape, prison would be the better choice."

The girl chuckles. "Look at you, pops. Five minutes with me and you're already enabling my abhorrent behavior."

Sensei shakes his head. "Not enabling. I'm just letting you know your options."

A slow smile tugs at her lips. "I think you know my decision. Time for you to make yours."

* * *

_So what did you think? Please leave a review, especially pertaining to this mystery woman, and if you have any ideas. Thanks!_


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